78 RESEDACE^ 



disk, on one side of the flower ; stigmas 3, sessile ; ovary 3-lobed, 1-celled, 

 many seeded, open at the summit ; seeds kidney-shaped ; plants herbaceous, 

 more rarely somewhat shrubby, their flowers being arranged in clusters or 

 spikes, and their leaves alternate. The properties of all are innocuous, and, 

 with the exception of the Dyer's Weed, they are little used for any 

 economical purposes. 



Rocket {BesMa). — Calyx of one piece, many -parted ; petals entire, or 

 variously cut, unequal ; stamens numerous ; capsule 1-celled, opening at the 

 summit. Name from resMo, "to calm," from the supposed sedative effect of 

 some of the plants. 



Rocket, Mignonette (BesMa). 



1. Dyer's Rocket, Yellow "Weed, or Weld (7?. lufMa). — Leaves 

 long, narrow and undivided ; calyx 4-parted ; stigmas 3. Plant biennial. 

 On chalky inland or sea-side cliffs, or l)y the road-side or field-borders, this 

 tall, slender species often attracts the eye of the wanderer over the chalky or 

 limestone soil. It is an erect, herbaceous plant, from two to three feet high ; 

 its pale yellow, greenish flowers, blossoming in July, having very conspicuous 

 stamens, and being succeeded by short flattened capsules. It was, in former 

 times, much used by dyers, and cotton, silk, linen, and woollen materials 

 receive a beautiful tint from its juices ; while blue cloths dipped in the dye 

 assiime a rich green colour. Every portion of the plant is used by the dyer, 

 and to the juices of this yellow weed the artist owes the coloiir called Dutch 

 pink. This plant is remarkable as being one of the first which appear on 

 the rubbish thrown from coal-pits. Linnaeus observes of it, that it follows 

 the course of the sun even when obscured by clouds, pointing throughout 

 the day in its direction, turning to the east at the dawn of morning, looking 

 southwards at noonday, saluting the west at sunset, and at midnight standing 

 due north. 



2. Wild Mignonette (R. hltea). — Leaves 3-cleft, lower ones pinnatifid ; 

 calyx G-parted ; petals 6, very unequal. Plant biennial. This is so much 

 like the Garden Mignonette, the Little Darling of the French, " The French- 

 man's Weed," as Cowper calls it, that it would at once be known as a 

 Mignonette by any who are familiar with the scented flower. Its spikes of 

 blossoms, however, have not the pretty reddish tinted stamens of that 

 species, being altogether of a yellowish-green hue. The odour of the Wild 

 Mignonette, too, is rather unpleasing than agreeable, though it is not 

 powerful. Calder Campbell, in a little poem which he has written for this 

 volume, alludes to this circumstance. 



" The ilowers we gather in the sun may soothe us in the shade. 

 As thoughts amid the crowd that spring our lonely hours pervade ; 

 Consoling us for pleasures past by whispering of those 

 That yet shall crown our honest toils with justly-earn'd repose. 



" A book may hold a rose's leaf, preserved for many years, 

 Wliose scents and hues can conjure up sad smiles that turn to tears : 

 Affection dormant, if not dead, may wake again restored, 

 By finding faded nosegays in some old neglected hoard. 



" When I remember blossoms cuU'd in early days of yore, 

 I seem to smell their fragrance, though I see their blooms no more ; 

 A mem'ry thus oft makes the false, reality assunae, 

 As thoughts of violets with their scents may till my quiet room. 



