22 DIALYPETALOUS EXOGENS 



Hob. Gardens; along drains, &c. Nat. of Europe. Fl. May. Fr. June. 



Obs. The pungent root of this plant is a favorite condiment, and 

 one of the most valuable antiscorbutics. The true or common 

 Scurvy grass, of Europe, is a species of this genus (C. officinalu, L.) ; 

 but is rarely, if ever, to be met with under culture, here. 



TRIBE 5. CAMELIN'EAE. 



Silide obovoid or oblong ; septum broad, parallel with the valves ; cotyledons plane, 

 incumbent (o]|), contrary to the septum. 



38. CAMEI^Ftf A, Crantz. 



[Gr. Chamai, dwarf, and Linon, flax ; from a fancied resemblance.] 

 Silide obovoid or pyriform, turgid, mucronate, dehiscent and split- 

 ting the style. Seeds numerous, oblong, not margined. 



1. C. satlva, Crantz. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, sagittate, sessile; 

 silicles inflated, margined. 

 CULTIVATED CAMELINA. Wild Flax. 



Annual. Stem about 2 feet high, paniculate at summit. Leaves 1 to 3 or 4 inches 

 long. Racemes corymbose-paniculate, elongating. Flowers pale yellow, inconspic- 

 uous. Style about half as long as the silicic, persistent, splitting with the dehiscent 

 valves. Seeds reddish yellow. 

 Hob. Cultivated grounds. Nat. of Europe. Fl. June. Fr. July. 



Obs. This foreigner was formerly frequent among Flax, when 

 that plant was generally cultivated ; but since that culture has de- 

 clined, the Camelina has become more rare, within my observation. 

 I am informed, however, by H. JONES BROOKE, Esq., of Delaware 

 county, Pennsylvania, that it had recently become a serious nui- 

 sance, in his wheat fields. Being an annual, the obvious remedy 

 "Was to prevent it from maturing its seeds ; but, being contempora- 

 neous with the crops, and mingled with them, its extirpation seemed 

 a hopeless task. Finding his grounds getting full of this pest, Mr. 

 BROOKE with the practical sagacity of an intelligent observer 

 adopted a plan which resulted in complete success : namely, keep- 

 ing the ground ploughed or stirred, for a year or two, so often as 

 to prevent the ripening of new seeds, and to promote the vegetation 

 of all the old ones in the soil. Among the vulgar errors of benighted 

 agriculture, was the belief that this plant was a kind of transmuted 

 or degenerate Flax, caused by burning the soil, in clearings. 



TRIBE 6. LEPIDIN'EAE. 



Silide compressed contrary to the narrow septum ; valves strongly boatshaped or 

 keeled ; cotyledons plane, mostly incumbent (o)|), parallel with the septum. 



39. L-EPID'IUM, L. 



[Gr. Lepidion, a little scale; from the form and size of the silicles.] 

 Silide oval, often winged and notched at apex ; cells 1-seeded. Coty- 

 ledons sometimes accumbent (o=). Annuals. 

 f Cotyledons incumbent (o||). 



1. L. SATiVuM, L. Leaves oblong, incised and pinnatifid; silicles 



winged and notched at apex, smooth, 



CULTIVATED LEPIDIUM. Pepper-grass. Tongue-grass. 



