38 CRUCIFERZ. [Lepidiwm. 
compressed laterally, notched at the summit or entire, winged or 
not ; septum narrow, membranous. Seeds one in each cell, sus- 
pended from the top of the septum ; cotyledons incumbent. 
A large genus of nearly 100 species, found in most temperate or warm cli- 
mates. The New Zealand species are highly variable, and several are very diffi- 
cult of discrimination. All are endemic. 
A. Leaves undivided; serrate, crenate, or quite entire; never pinnate or 
pinnatifid. 
Stout, erect or diffuse, 12-24 in. high. Leaves sharply ser- 
rate. Pods entire, not winged ae Yc .. 1. L. oleracewm. 
Slender, flexuous, suberect, 12-18in. Leaves at op 
serrate above. Pods winged and notched above .. 2. L. Banks. 
Slender, decumbent, 9-12in. Leaves long-petioled, cre- 
nate. Pods ovate, winged and notched above .. 3. L. obtusatum. 
Stems prostrate, filiform, 2-5in. Leaves linear- spathu- 
late, 4-1 in., entire. Pods ovate-orbicular, notched .. 4. L. Kirki. 
B. Lower leaves puuiate or pinrnatifid. 
* Flowers hermaphrodite. 
Procumbent, glabrous. Leaves pinnatifid, segments 
toothed at the tips. Racemes short, lateral. Pods 
ovate bi as .. O. L. flexicaule. 
Procumbent or x suberect, hairy. Leaves pinnate, segments 
finely serrate on the upper edge. Racemes long, termi- 
nal. Pods minute, orbicular Ws Pe .. 6. ZL. tenwicaule-. 
** Flowers dicecious. 
Almost glabrous. Erect, leafy, 6-12in. high, paniculately 
branched above. Pods ovate ar ae .. 7. L. Kawarau. 
Hoary and scabrid. Erect, strict, 2-5in. high. Leaves 
almost all radical, coriaceous. Racemes short, dense. 
Pods ovate 8. L. Mataw. 
Hairy. Suberect, 2— Bin. high. Root very long ‘and stout, 
Leaves all radical. Racemes lax, open. Pods ovate- 
rhomboid .. ys 5% ve G .. 9. L. sisymbrioides. 
1. L. oleraceum, Forst. Prodr. n. 248.—Stout or slender, 
erect or diffuse, perfectly glabrous, 10-24in. high. Stem branched, 
leafy above, often naked and woody below, scarred. Leaves 1-4 in. 
long, obovate- or oblong-spathulate to narrow-spathulate, narrowed 
into a short flat petiole, sharply serrate or incised; upper smaller 
and narrower, more entire, toothed at the tip only. Flowers 
numerous, in terminal simple or branched racemes, in large speci- 
mens often corymbosely arranged at the ends of the branches. 
Stamens 4. Pods ovate or ovate-oblong, subacute, wingless, entire 
at the tip, 4in. long; pedicels slender, spreading.—Forst. Pl. Hsc. 30 ; 
A. Cunn. Precur. n. 628; Raoul, Choix de Plantes, 47; Hook. f. Fl. 
Nov. Zel.i. 15; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 14; Kirk, Students’ Fl. 34. 
Var. frondosum, Kirk, |.c.—Stout, fleshy, much branched. Leaves large,, 
2-5 in., broadly oblong or cuneate-oblong, serrate. 
Var. acutidentatum, Kirk, l.c.—Branches slender, leafy. Leaves 1-2in., 
oblong- or linear-spathulate, acutely toothed towards the tip. 
