196 SUMMER FLOWERS. 



(26) Cardamine. Bitter-cress. 

 C. impatiens : annual ; stem 1^ foot high, stiff, erect, 

 leafy, simple, or with a few erect branches; leaves pinnate, 

 with numerous lanceolate or almost ovate segments, often 

 deeply toothed; petals very minute, sometimes wanting; pods 

 numerous, about an inch long, the valves rolling back at ma- 

 turity with much elasticity. — Moist rocks and shady waste 

 places, n. May, June. [See also p. 45.] 



(27) Brassica. 



* Valves of the pod three-ribhed. 



B. monensis : biennial, or short-lived perennial ; stem pros- 

 trate, glabrous, sometimes barely six inches high, the leaves 

 mostly radical; leaves pinnatifid or pinnate, the lobes oblong 

 with a few coarse teeth, upper ones more deeply divided, with 

 narrower segments ; flowers rather large, pale yellow ; pods 

 spreading \\-% inches long, terminating in a thick beak, which 

 is from ^-^ of the whole length, and contains 1-3 seeds. — 

 Sandy western coasts. Fl. June to August. 



Var. Cheiranthus : more luxuriant, the stem 1-3 feet high, 

 erect, leafy, hairy at the base. — South Wales and the Channel 

 Islands. 



** Valves oj* the pod one-ribbed. 

 f Upper leaves stem-clasping, not auricled. 



B. oleracea : stock thick, almost woody, of 2-3 years^ dura- 

 tion, branching into erect stems 1-2 feet high ; leaves smooth, 

 glaucous, the lower ones stalked, broad, sinuate, or lobed at 

 the base, the upper oblong, clasping the stem by their broad 

 base, but not auricled ; flowers rather large, pale yellow ; pod 

 spreading, 1^ inches or more in length. — Maritime cliffs, pro- 

 bably escaped from cultivation. Fl. June to August. 



