90 The Romance of Wild Flowers 
certify. This difference is probably due to an 
attenuation of the pungent principle with the 
increased bulk of the plant. 
The well-known Lady’s Smock (Cardamine 
pratensis), Which makes bright many a damp 
meadow with its abundant pale-lilac flowers, is 
mainly fertilised by insects, but if these do not come 
in time, the longer stamens press against the stigma 
and pollinate it. Many other of the Crossworts are 
self-fertile in the same way. ‘This plant is sometimes 
found so overflowing with vital energy, that it 
develops roots from the joints of its pretty pinnate 
leaves that lie on the damp ground, and then new little 
plants arise from the axils of the leaflets. If the 
flowers of such specimens be examined, they will be 
found to resemble little double roses, for the ovary in 
each has developed into another flower, with calyx 
and corolla complete, and probably yet another flower 
erowing out of that. 
The five native species of Hedge Mustards (Sisym- 
brvwir), so common under every hedge, are habitually 
fertilised with their own pollen by beetles and flies 
chiefly. Some of these have small yellow flowers, 
others white, arranged in a loose raceme,—that is, 
each on a short foot-stalk attached to the main flower- 
stem. Among these the yellow - flowered London 
Rocket (S. ari0) is noteworthy, as having sprung 
up suddenly after the Great Fire of London in 
1666, wherever the ground was left bare by the 
ravages of the fire ; it owes its name to this circum- 
stance. Jack-by-the-hedge, or Garlic Mustard (S. 
alliaria), and Hedge Mustard (S. officinale), secrete 
honey, and are visited by flies, beetles, and an 
