64 CRUCIFEK^ 



three days together, so that in the course of the season a considerable 

 quantity of ashes was produced. Having received in the spring of the 

 present year, 1835, a vahiable collection of cuttings of nearly all the species 

 of British Willows, from W. Borrer, Esq., of Henfield, Sussex, this was the 

 only piece of ground which we could appropriate to a Salicetum ; and in 

 order to prepare it for the reception of the cuttings, the ashes were spread 

 I'egularly over the surface, and the whole of it was trenched over ; in a short 

 time the very spot on which the rubbish was burnt produced an abundant 

 crop of Sisymbrium irio, and that on a part of the garden Avhere I never 

 remember seeing it before." 



The London Rocket is a leafy j)lant, about two feet in height, bearing 

 small yellow flowers in July and August. It grows in waste places, but is 

 not frequent. 



3. Fine-leaved Hedge-mustard, or Flixweed (»S'. sophia). — Leaves 

 twice pinnatifid, and slightly hairy ; petals shorter than the calyx ; pods 

 slender, and erect. Plant animal. There is little to attract us in this 

 species, but it is of easy recognition, having a most marked character. It is 

 a slender plant, about two feet high, branched, and bearing small yellow 

 flowers, from June to August ; and its leaves are divided into narroAV 

 segments, a circumstance very unusual in the cruciferous tribe. It is not 

 uncommon in waste places in England, though somewhat so in Scotland ; 

 and, as the. Rev. C. A. Johns has remarked, its " numerous erect pods, when 

 ripe, have the appearance of being beaded, from the great number of project- 

 ing seeds." It had a name among the herbalists expressive of some virtues 

 which we in modern days do not discover, for they termed it Sophia Chirur- 

 (joru)ii, the Wisdom of Surgeons ; and one of them, who says that Paracelsus 

 extols it to the skies, adds, "it is fitting that syrup, ointment, and plaisters 

 of it were kept in your houses." It has been thought serviceable in hysterical 

 cases, but its chief repute was for healing wounds. Its seeds, powdered and 

 mixed with gunpowder, are said to increase its explosive force ; it is probable 

 that they contain sulphur, as do those of some allied plants. 



23. Treacle-mustard {Erysimum). 



1. Worm-seed Treacle-mustard {E. cheiranthoicles). — Leaves narrow 

 and oblong, slightly toothed, rough, with starry three-forked hairs ; pods 

 erect, on spreading stalks ; seeds small and numerous. Plant annual. It is 

 from this plant that the familiar name of the whole genus is derived, as it 

 was formerly one of the ingredients of the famous Venice treacle. The name 

 of Worm-seed refers to the uses of the seeds in medicine. The plant is not 

 uncommon in this country, on waste places, and cultivated lands, and fre- 

 quently grows among osiers and willows, varying much in size, according to 

 soil and situation. The stem, which is much branched, is from half a foot 

 to two feet in height, and the flowers are very small and numerous, and 

 appear in July and August. They are yellow, with whitish sepals, and the 

 foliaf-e is of a dull green tint. It is by many writers thought to be not 

 indigenous, but it has long established itself in most of the countries of 

 Europe, as well as of North America. The leaA'es are pungent, and their 



