98 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



at intervals down the stem some few others of much 

 smaller and narrower form. The flowers are individually 

 rather small, but as they are very numerous, and of a clear 

 bright yellow colour, they become sufficiently noticeable in 

 the mass. They are of the well-known and characteristic 

 cruciferous or cross-bearing type. The pods that succeed 

 the blossoms ai'e a very conspicuous feature, as they are 

 often much longer than those we figure. Our plant, as we 

 see by the clustering buds and small size of the pods, is 

 yet in a comparatively early stage of the flowering state. 

 As the upper buds one by one expand into blossoms the 

 stem elongates, and the lower pods develop until they are 

 some two inches long or even more. The pod is quad- 

 rangular, and contains a single row of seeds. It must 

 always be borne in mind that the mathematician and the 

 botanist use similar terms sometimes, but with a different 

 significance. Many leaves, for example, are botanically 

 termed oblong, though their outline would not by any 

 means satisfy the definitions of geometry; and in the 

 same way, when we speak of the pod being quadrangular 

 we do not imply that the form is as rigidly four-angled 

 as a section through the leg of a kitchen table. The 

 plant varies somewhat at times in the form of the leaves, 

 some being much more markedly lobed and cut than others ; 

 and in some examples the flowers or pods are larger than 

 in others. Attempts have been made to convert these 

 variations into type-forms as the basis for new species, but 

 for this there would seem to be little or no justification. 



The yellow rocket is also called the herb St. Barbara, the 

 bitter winter cress, and the land-cress. The first of these 

 names arose from the mediaeval association of plants with 

 saints; examples of such dedication are not uncommon, 



