CRUCIFEROUS TRIBE 49 



like the bowl of a spoon. They were formerly eaten by country people in 

 salads, but they are very pungent. The author has known persons living in 

 villages in Kent, to bruise them with a small quantity of water in a mortal', 

 and take the juice thus expressed, daily, as a spring drink. The plant grows 

 on muddy shores and salt marshes, and on the Highland mountains. A 

 smaller variety, common on these mountains, is regarded by some botanists 

 as a distinct species, and tei'med Cochlearia Grcenlandica. The Scurvy -grass 

 is Das Losselkraut of the Germans, the Lepelkruid of the Dutch, Le Cranson of 

 the French, and the Skee-wurt of the Danes. 



2. English Scurvy-grass (C. dnglica). — Pouch elliptical, veined ; root- 

 leaves stalked, oblong, entire ; stem-leaves oblong, toothed at the base, 

 sessile. Plant annual. This plant grows on the borders of inland rivers, 

 and in salt marshes. It is more slender than the last-named species, and its 

 seed-vessels and blossoms arc larger. Its white flowers appear in May and 

 June. It is found on the banks of the Thames, between London and 

 Woolwich, on the borders of the Avon, near Bristol, and in other similar 

 localities, both in England and Scotland. Many writers think it but a 

 variety of the Common Scurvy-grass, only altered by the circumstances of 

 soil and situation. 



3. Danish Scurvy-grass (C dcinica). — Pouch ovate, veined ; leaves all 

 stalked, lobed, and nearly triangular. Plant annual. This is as common a 

 species as any, growing about hedges and on cliffs near the sea. It is very 

 much smaller and less robust than C. officinalis. 



4. Horseradish {C. armordcia). — Root-leaves oblong, on long footstalks, 

 the edges with rounded notches ; stem-leaves long, lanceolate, serrated, or 

 entire ; root long and tapering ; pouch shorter than the flower stalks. Plant 

 perennial. The Horseradish has so long been cultivated as a condiment to 

 the " Roast Beef of Old England," that it has become a familiar plant to us, 

 both in gardens and in many wild places. It grows in ditches and odd 

 corners, where it increases by means of its roots, for it rarely produces 

 seeds in this country. It is not a native. It has small white flowers in May 

 and June. 



8. AwLWORT (Subuldria). 



Water Awlwort (S. aqudtica). — Leaves awl-shaped, few in number, 

 and all springing from the root. This singular little plant is not unfrequent 

 on the sandy or gravelly bottoms of Alpine lakes. The leaves are two or 

 three inches long, the roots white and fibrous, and the small white flowers 

 appear in July. It is a native also of Lapland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, 

 Holland, and other parts of the Continent ; and is La Suhulaire of the French, 

 the Wasserpfriemen of the German, and the Elskruid of the Dutch ; while in 

 Denmark it is known as the Sylhlad, and in Norway as the Fri/tilje. It is a 

 very curious plant, on account of its usually flowering beneath the water. 

 This is conti-ary to the general habit of water-plants, which almost always 

 rise above the surface of the stream before they expand, in order that fertili- 

 zation may take place in air. The flowers are, doubtless, often perfected 

 beneath the water; but the Rev. Hugh Davies gives, in his 'Welsh 

 Botanology,' an account which proves that the Awlwort sometimes expands 



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