CRUCIFERAE 21 



a. S. XLBA, L. Siliques turgid, hispid, spreading, scarcely as long 



as the ensiform style. 



WHITE SIN APIS. White Mustard. 



Annual. Stem 2 to 5 feet high, rather stout, branched, sparsely hirsute. Leaves 

 lyrately pinnatifid. Racemes 3 to 6 inches long. Flowers yellow. Seeds pale 

 brown, larger than in the preceding species. 

 Hob. Gardens. Nat of Europe. Fl. June. Fr. Aug. 



Obs. The seeds are employed for similar purposes as the preceding ; 

 and are sometimes administered, whole, as a remedy for Dyspepsia, 

 &c. 



DIVISION H. SILICULO'SAE. 



Fruit a silicic i. e. a short pod or capsule (not much longer than broad), 2-celled, 

 mostly opening by 2 valves; cotyledons plane, not folded lengthwise, nor spirally 

 convolute. 



TRIBE 4. ALYSSIN'EAE. 



SClidt oval or oblong; septum broadly oval, parallel with the valves; cotyledons ac- 

 cumbent (o=), parallel with the septum. 



36. DRA V BA, L. 



[Gr. drdbe, acrid, or biting; from the pungency of its leaves.] 

 Silicle oval, flattened; stigma sessile. Seeds numerous, in 2 rows in 

 each cell, not margined. 



1. D. Verna, L. Leaves radical, oblong or lanceolate, hairy; 



scapes several; silicles elliptic-oblong, shorter than the pedicels; 



petals bifid. 



Erophila vulgaris, DC. $ FL Cestr. ed. 2. p. 378. 



VERNAL DRABA. Whitlow-grass. 



Annual f Leaves half an inch to an inch long. Scapes 1 or 2 to 4 or 5 inches 

 high. Flowers small, white, on elongating pedicels. Silicles about one-third of an 

 Inch long; valves deciduous, leaving the seeds adhering to the margins of the sep- 

 tum. 

 nab. Sandy banks, roadsides, &c.: common. Fl. March. Fr. May. 



Obs. Of the Alpine species of this insignificant genus, the grandil- 

 oquent DARWIN, in his Botanic Garden, sings as follows : 

 " Where rears huge Tenerif his azure crest, 

 Aspiring DRABA builds her eagle nest; 

 Her pendant eyry icy caves surround, 

 Where erst Tolcanos mined the rocky ground. 

 Pleased round the Fair four rival Lords ascend 

 The shaggy steeps, two menial youths attend. 

 High in the setting ray the beauty stands, 

 And her tall shadow waves on distant lands." 



37. COCHL,EA N RIA, Tournef. 



[Latin, Cocfuear, a spoon ; from the form of the leaves of some species.] 

 Silicle ovoid or oblong ; valves very convex ; style very short. Seeds 

 as in Draba. 



1. C. ARMOR\CIA, L. Radical leaves large, oblong, crenate, peti- 

 olate, stem-leaves lanceolate, incised, sessile. 

 ARMORICAN COCHLEARIA. Horse-Radish. 



Perennial. Root long, terete, fleshy, white, very acrid. Stem 2 to 3 feet high, 

 with erect axillary branches. Radical leaves 8 to 15 inches long. Racemes corym- 

 bose, elongating. Flowers white. Silicles oval, usually abortive, 



