54 CRUCIFER^ 



Spaniards term it Col marina ; the Danes call it Strand Kaal ; it is Der 

 Meerkohl of the Germans, and Leerkool of the Dutch. The country people in 

 the west of England have, for some centuries past, known its worth as a 

 vegetable for the table, and have been in the habit of watching the young 

 shoots and leaf-stalks, which no sooner push up the sand above them, than 

 they are cut off underground, in the same way as asparagus. This occiu s 

 during March and April. The Sea Kale was introduced into gardens about 

 the middle of the last century, and is now cultivated in every market garden, 

 Avhere it is forced, by planting it in a rich soil, and blanching the young 

 shoots by sheltering them from the action of light. The origin of its culti- 

 vation as a garden vegetable is as follows. Many years since, Dr. Lettsom, 

 when travelling along the southern coast of England, stayed to dine at 

 Southampton. Wandering in the neighbourhood of that town, he saw some 

 women cutting Kale in the sand, and observed that the plants were nearly 

 buried in it. He thought they resembled young shoots of asparagus, and 

 found, upon inquiry, that the fishermen and their families were in the habit 

 of eating them when they could not procure other fresh vegetables. The 

 doctor tasted the raw succulent shoots, and ended by ordering some of this 

 Sea Kale to be sent to the inn for his dinner. He some time after commu- 

 nicated this discovery to his friend, Mr. Curtis. The present mode of culture 

 was introduced by that nurseryman, who having first made the plant known 

 to the public by a pamphlet, which he published in its praise, afterwards 

 sold packets of the seeds to the gardeners, and the plant came into general 

 repute. The Tartarian Sea Kale, G. tatarica, is called by the Hungarians, 

 Tartar bread ; and its large fleshy root, stripped of the bark, and sliced, is 

 eaten with oil and vinegar. Children eat this root boiled ; and the young 

 shoots are also cooked, like those of our native Kale. 



U. Wart-cress {Cordnopm). 



1. Wart-cress, or Swine's-cress (C ruMii). — Pouch undivided, rough, 

 with little sharp points ; style prominent ; leaves twice pinnate, their seg- 

 ments linear. Plant annual. This, though infrequent in Scotland, is common 

 in England, and is in some country places called Star of the Earth. The 

 flowers are very small and white, and blossom throughout the summer ; and 

 the cut leaves, fancied to resemble the foot of a bird, are remarkably dis- 

 agreeable, both in flavour and odour. Notwithstanding this, however, they 

 were doubtless formerly gathered for salad, as another species of Wart-cress 

 still is, according to Delile, in Egypt. Our Wart-cress is a common weed, by 

 road-sides and on waste places, and is in some villages called Herb Ivy, or 

 Herb Eve, 



2. Lesser Wart-cress (C. didyma). — Pouch of two wrinkled lobes, 

 notched ; style very short ; leaves once or twice pinnate. Plant annual. 

 Little green tufts of this plant are very common by road-sides in the south 

 and west of England, and often grow on the sand, or among the stones of the 

 shore. Its small greenish flowers are to be detected throughout the summer, 

 and the foliage, if trodden upon, emits a most disagreeable odour. The 

 genus Cai'dnopus is by some writers called Senehiera, from M. Senebier, the 

 Genevese physiologist. 



