GREEN VEGETABLES. 55 



not the herb more fully grown. There were smooth and crisped- 

 leaved sorts, both broad-leaved and narrow-leaved. 



CRESS, WATER. 



This plant was regarded as a kind of Sisymbrium by Dioscorides. 

 His commentator, Matthiolus, calls it S. aquaticum, " being endowed 

 with the same taste as our Ores do," or the " cultivated nasturtium " 

 (1574). The French called it Cresson de ruisseau. Hence came our 

 English name; but in the sixteenth century it was also called " Water- 

 Kars." 



Its use was at first wholly medicinal, being subsequently recom- 

 mended in salads. Linnaeus retained the generic name Sisymbrium, 

 calling it S. Nasturtium, but Eobert Brown restored the latter name 

 to generic rank, adding officinale as the specific name, so that it became 

 Nasturtium officinale. 



Professor Church observes of the water-cress, " The dietetic value 

 cannot be judged of by the proportion or amount of organic nutrients 

 present, as it depends mainly upon the quantity of mineral matters, 

 aromatic oil, and other minor ingredients." 



CORN SALAD OR LAMB'S LETTUCE. 



This plant is a member of the Valerian family, Valerianella olitoria. 

 It is found in corn-fields and hedge-banks, and has been long used as a 

 salad plant. Thus Gerard (1597) writes : " These herbes grow wilde 

 in the corne fields, and since it hath growne in use among the French 

 and Dutch strangers it hath beene sowen in gardens as a sallad herbe. 

 It is with pleasure eaten with vinegar, salt and oil, as other sallads 

 be, among which it is none of the worst." 



At the present day it is more used on the Continent than in 

 England. A golden-leaved variety is cultivated. M. de Candolle 

 thinks that it is truly indigenous only in Sardinia and Sicily, as no 

 name is traceable in Greek and Latin authors, or in the Middle Ages. 

 In fact the cultivation of it appears to be comparatively modern. 



CHICORY AND ENDIVE. 



These names correspond to the two species Cichorium Intybus, 

 L. (fig. 23), and C. Endivia, L. (fig. 24). The former is a native, 

 especially on calcareous soils, of England, and wild in Europe, West 

 Africa and east North- West India ; the endive is still found in the corn- 

 fields of Egypt. They were probably two of the plants included in 

 the " bitter herbs " of the Israelites, for they belong to the tribe 

 Cichoriaceae of Composites, characterized by a very bitter milky juice, 

 as in the dandelion and other allies. 



The chicory is a tall plant with large blue flowers borne on a wiry 

 stem, and " runcinate " leaves, i.e. having the marginal lobes pointing 

 downwards, as in the dandelion, whereas the leaves of the endive are 

 large, oval, and merely toothed on the margin. 



