58 CP.UCIFEILE. 



spring, and join with the white Saxifrage, the Cowslip, 

 Primrose, and Hare-bell to compose many a rustic nose- 

 gay/' A double variety is sometimes found wild, which 

 is remarkably proliferous, the leaflets producing new 

 plants when they come in contact with the ground, and 

 the flowers, as they wither, sending up a stalked flower- 

 bud from their centres. Fl. May. Perennial. 



3. C. impatiens (Narrow-leaved Bitter Cress). Leaves 

 pinnate; stipules fringed. Moist rocks in some parts of 

 Scotland and the north of England; rare. Fl. May, 

 June. Annual. 



4. C. hirsuta * (Hairy Bitter Cress). Leaves pinnate, 

 without stipules ; leaflets stalked, toothed; pods erect. 

 A common weed everywhere, varying in size according 

 to soil and situation, from six to eighteen inches in 

 height. In dry localities it ripens its seeds in March 

 or April, and withers away; but in damper places 

 continues in flower all the summer. The leaves and 

 young flower-stems afford an agreeable salad. The 



flowers are white, very small, and often imperfect, and 

 are soon overtopped by the lengthening pods, the valves 

 of which, when ripe, curl up with an elastic spring if 

 touched, and fly off, scattering the seeds to a considerable 

 distance. Fl. all the Summer. Annual. 



15. ARABIS (Rock Cress). 



1. A. hirstita (Hairy Eock Cress). Leaves all rough 

 with hairs, those of the stem numerous, heart-shaped, 

 embracing the stem. A stiff, erect plant, frequent in 

 many parts of Great Britain on walls and banks. 

 Flowers small, white. Fl. June, July. Biennial. 



2. A. petraea (Alpine Eock Cress). Leaves smooth, 

 pinnatifid, with smaller lobes at the base ; those of the 

 stem simple, sessile. On rocks in Scotland and Wales. 

 Flowers larger than the last, tinged with purple. Fl. 

 July, August. Perennial. 



