HESPEUIS.] CRUCIFERJE. 29 



ascending ; valves much narrowed at the tip ; style stout ; seeds linear- 

 oblong. DISTRLB. Europe, temp. Asia. 



9. ERAS SICA, L. CABBAGE, &c. 



Herbs of various habit. Leaves entire or pinnatifid, often large. Flowers 

 in long racemes, white or yellow, rather large. Sepals erect or spreading, 

 equal or the lateral saccate at the base. Pod elongate, nearly terete, with 

 sometimes an indehiscent 1 -seeded beak ; valves convex, often 3-nerved, 

 the lateral nerves flexuous ; septum membranous or spongy ; stigma 

 truncate or 2-lobed. Seeds 1-seriate, oblong or subglobose ; cotyledons 

 incumbent, concave or conduplicate. DISTRIB. Temp. Europe, Asia, and 

 N. Africa ; species 100. ETYM. The Latin name. 



SECTION 1. Brassica proper. Sepals erect. 



1. B. olera'cea, L. ; rootstock stout branched leafy at the top, leaves 

 obovate lobed or sinuate below glaucous glabrous, upper sessile oblong 

 dilated at the base, flowering racemes elongate, beak of pod seedless, valves 

 keeled and nerved. Wild Cabbage. 



Sea-cliffs, S.W. of England, Wales, and Ireland ; naturalized here and there 

 elsewhere and in Scotland; a denizen? Watson; fl. May-Aug. -Stems 

 1-2 ft., biennial or perennial, as thick as the finger or thicker, tortuous, 

 usually decumbent, scarred. Lower leaves often 1-lg ft. Flowers 1 in. 

 diam., pale yellow. Pods 2-3 in., spreading, slightly compressed; beak 

 short, subulate ; seeds globose. DISTRIB. W. and S. coasts of Europe. The 

 chief cultivated forms are forma aceph'ala (Scotch kail, cow cabbage, bore- 

 cole) ;/. buUeata and gemmi/'era (Brussels sprouts and Savoys) ; /. capita' ta 

 (red and white cabbage) ; /. caulora'pa (Cole rabi or Kohl-Rebe) ; /. Botri/tis 

 (cauliflower and broccoli). 



2. B. campes'tris, L.; erect, lower leaves lyrate-pinnate, upper oblong 

 or lanceolate amplexicaul and auricled at the base, flowering racemes 

 corymbiform, beak of pod seedless, valves 1 -nerved. B. polymor'pha, Synie. 

 Weeds of cultivated ground ; a colonist ? Watson ; fl. June-Sept. 



The following is Mr. Syme's arrangement of the forms of Brassica campes'tris, 

 which he includes under the aggregate name of polymor'pha, a good one, 

 but which should not supersede the Linnean. All are annual or biennial. 

 Probably none are wild in this or any other country ; B. campestris proper 

 may be a starved form of one of the others, though it appears more reason- 

 able to regard it as their parent. DISTRIB. All Europe, temp, and sub-trop. 

 Asia, where the turnip is cultivated up to 15,000 ft. in the Himalaya. 



Sub-sp. CAMPES'TRIS proper ; root tuberous, leaves glaucous, radical hispid, 

 upper glabrous, petals persistent till the corymb lengthens. Swedish turnip. 

 Extends into Arctic Europe. 



8ub-sp. NA'PUS, L. (sp.); root fusiform, leaves all glabrous and glaucous, 

 petals deciduous before the corymb lengthens. Rape, Cole-seed yields Colza 

 and Carcel oils. 



Sub-sp. RA'PA, L. (sp. ) ; root tuberous, lower leaves not glaucous hispid, upper 

 glaucous and glabrous, petals deciduous. Turnip. 



3. B. monen'sis, Huds. ; leaves petioled deeply pinnatifid, segments 

 toothed, upper linear, beak of pod 1-3-seeded, valves 3-nerved. 

 Sea-shores on the west coasts from Skye to S. Wales, Channel Is. ; fl. May- 

 June. Rootstock usually stout, woody and perennial. Stem 6-24 in., erect or 



