Capsella.~\ crucifeile. 17 



a foot high, rather rough and often hairy, with a few oblong or lanceolate, 

 entire or toothed leaves, clasping the stem with projecting auricles. Pods in 

 a long loose raceme, usually triangular, truncate or sometimes notched at the 

 top. Seeds 10 to 12 in each cell. 



A naturalized weed, Ranee. Probably of European or North Asiatic origin, now common 

 in waste or cultivated places in most temperate regions of the globe, more rare within the 

 tropics. 



4. RAPHANUS, Linn. 



Pod more or less elongated, thick, pointed, indehiscent, more or less con- 

 tracted between the seeds, without any longitudinal partition when ripe, but 

 containing several seeds separated by a pithy substance filling the pod. Ra- 

 dicle incumbent on the back of the cotyledons, which are folded over it. 



A genus of very few, or perhaps a single species, apparently of Mediterranean origin. 



1. R. sativus, Linn. ; DC. Prod. i. 228. A coarse erect annual 2 or 3 

 feet high, with a thick succulent root. Leaves pinnately divided, the terminal 

 segment large and ovate or oblong, rough with short hairs, the upper leaves often 

 narrow and entire. Flowers white with coloured veins, or lilac. Pod usually 

 1 to 1£ in. long, very thick and nearly cylindrical, terminating in a point. 



This, the cultivated Radish, becomes half-spontaneous in Hongkong as in other countries 

 where it is cultivated. It has been usually stated to be a native of China, but upon no re- 

 liable authority, and it is not improbable that it may be a race established by long. cultiva- 

 tion, derived from the S. European and Asiatic R. Raphanistrum. 



Order IX. CAPPARIDE.E. 



Sepals 4. Petals 4, rarely 8 or 0. Stamens usually indefinite, or, if de- 

 finite, 6 or more, or seldom tetradynamous. Ovary 1 -celled, with 2 or rarely 

 more parietal placentas, each bearing several or many ovules. Style single, 

 often very short or almost none, the stigma generally round. Fruit either a 

 dehiscent pod or an indehiscent berry. Seeds generally reniform, without al- 

 bumen, the embryo usually coiled. — Herbs, shrubs, or climbers, rarely trees. 

 Stipules usually none, rarely spinescent or small. Flowers usually in terminal 

 racemes, more rarely solitary or axillary. The ovary in several genera, and 

 sometimes the stamens also, are raised on a stalk or elongated receptacle 

 within the flower. 



A considerable Order, found chiefly within the tropics, a few species stretching northwards 

 into more temperate regions, especially in America. 



Pod opening in valves. Annual, with digitate leaves 1. Polanisia. 



Berry indehiscent. Shrubs or climbers, with simple leaves 2. Capparis. 



1. POLANISIA, Raf. 



Stamens 8 to 32. Receptacle not elongated. Ovary sessile or nearly so. 

 Pod linear or oblong, opening in 2 valves, parallel to the persistent dissepi- 

 ment. — Fetid annuals, with glandular or viscid hairs. Leaves digitate. 



A small genus, dispersed over the tropical and subtropical regions both of the New and the 

 Old World. 



C 



