S I S 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



S I S 



581 



Sisymbrium ; a genus of the class Tetradynamia, order 

 Siliquosa. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth four- 

 leaved; leaflets lanceolate-linear, spreading-, coloured, deci- 

 duous. Corolla: four-petal led, cruciform; petals oblong-, 

 spreading, commonly less than the calix, with very small 

 claws. Stamina: filamenta six, longer than the calix; of these 

 two the opposite a little shorter; an there simple. Pistil: 

 germen oblong, filiform ; style scarcely any ; stigma obtuse. 

 Pericarp: silique long; incurved, gibbous, round, two-celled, 

 two-valved ; valves in opening straightish ; partition a little 

 longer than the valves. Seeds : very many, small. ESSEN- 

 TIAL CHARACTER. Silique: opening with straightish valves. 



Calix and Corolla, spreading. The species are, 



* Siliques declined, short. 



1. Sisymbrium Nasturtium; Common Water Cress. Siliques 

 declined; leaves pinnate ; leaflets cordate, roundish. Roots 

 perennial, consisting of long, white fibres, the lowermost fixed 

 in the soil, the rest suspended in the water ; stem spread- 

 ing, declining or floating, angular, branched, leafy. The 

 leaves, when it grows in the shade, are green; when exposed 

 to the sun, purplish brown; when growing in a rapid current, 

 they are sometimes considerably lengthened out, as is the 

 case with other plants in the same circumstances; and in this 

 state the leaves may be mistaken for those of Stum Nodiflorum, 

 or Creeping Water Parsnep, which generally grows with it; 

 but the leaves of the Water Parsnep are not only long and 

 pointed, but serrate, of a much paler colour, and without 

 any of that Cress-like taste which is to be found in Water 

 Cresses. This plant is reputed to be an excellent antiscor- 

 butic, with less acrimony than Scurvy Grass : it is supposed 

 to purify the blood, and to open visceral obstructions. In 

 the spring it is very frequently eaten as a salad. The juice 

 is prescribed, with that of Scurvy Grass and Seville Oranges; 

 and thus form a popular remedy for scurvy, under the title of 

 Spring Juices. This plant is found throughout Europe, from 

 Sweden to Greece, and in North America: it is generally 

 gathered for a spring salad out of ditches, and standing or 

 slowly flowing waters, and it is also cultivated to supply the 

 London markets. This may be easily done by taking some 

 of the plants from the place of their natural growth early in 

 the spring, being careful to preserve their roots as entire as 

 possible, and plant them in mud, letting in water upon them 

 by degrees. They will soon flourish, and spread over a large 

 compass, yet should not be cut in the first season, but suffered 

 to run to seed, for the seeds will fall into the water, and fur- 

 nish a sufficient supply of plants. Where the water is so 

 deep that it is not easy to plant it, procure a quantity of 

 plants in July, just as the seeds are ripening, and throw 

 them on the surface of the water: the seeds will ripen, fall to 

 the bottom, and take root there, without any further care. 



2. Sisymbrium Sylvestre; Creeping Water Rocket. Siliques 

 declined; leaves pinnate; leaflets lanceolate, gash-serrate. 

 Root perennial, whitish, slender, remarkably creeping, thickly 

 beset with germina, which give it a knobbed appearance"; 

 stems numerous, a foot high, upright, or nearly stf, leafy, 

 flexuose, weak; sometimes purplish, smooth, somewhat angu- 

 lar, and finely grooved, branched; flowers yellow. Native of 

 Sweden, Britain, Germany, France, Switzerland, Carniola, 

 Piedmont, and Siberia. In England it abounds upon the 

 watery part of Tothill-fields, Westminster, and at several 

 places on the banks of the Thames; on Cambridge common; 

 between Chesterton Sluice and Barnwell Pool, and in the isle 

 of Ely; on Bungay Common, in Suffolk; frequent in Bedford- 

 shire; on the banks of the canal beyond Highbridge, Port 

 Meadow, Binscy Common, and Atmore, in Oxfordshire; on the 

 bauks of the Severn, near Worcester; and on the banks of the 



Aire below Leeds. This, and the two following species, may 

 be propagated in the same manner as the preceding. 



3. Sisymbrium Terrestre ; Annual Water Rocket. Siliques 

 declined, turgid; leaves pinnatifid, unequally toothed; root 

 simple; petals shorter than the calix. Stem generally upright, 

 branched, afoot high, and smooth. When this plant happens 

 to be overflowed, which is often the case, it becomes more 

 procumbent, and will sometimes take root at the joints. It 

 has a less pungent taste than the other Cresses. It is common 

 about London, on the edges of wet ditches, and on ground 

 liable to be overflowed; also at Hauxton, and near Ely Bridge, 

 in Cambridgeshire; at Elstow and Goldington, in Bedford- 

 shire ; and on Bungay Common, in Suffolk. It flowers from 

 June to September. 



4. Sisymbrium Amphibium; Great Water Rocket. Siliques 

 declined, pedicelled ; leaves oblong, pinnatifid, or serrate ; 

 petals longer than the calix. Root perennial, fibrous; stems 

 elongated, rooted, somewhat flexuose, leafy, grooved, little 

 branched. This species is found in rivers and brooks, and 

 sometimes on the banks that are overflowed, in most parts of 

 Europe, flowering from June to August. In running streams 

 it grows to a great size, with long floating stems. 



5. Sisymbrium Pyrenaicum ; Pyrenean Wild Rocket. Si- 

 liques subovate ; lower leaves lyrate ; upper bipinnatifid, 

 embracing; styles filiform; root perennial. It flowers in May 

 and June. Native of the Pyrenees, Arragon, Dauphiny, and 

 Switzerland. This, with all those species which grow upon 

 dry land, may easily be propagated by sowing the seeds in 

 autumn, or by permitting them to scatter; thinning them and 

 keeping them clean from weeds. Most of them prefer a dry 

 soil, and some flourish best on walls. 



6. Sisymbrium Tanacetifolium; Tansey-leaved Wild Rocket. 

 Leaves pinnate; leaflets lanceolate, gash-serrate, the outmost 

 confluent. Stalks a foot and half high. If this plant were 

 not destitute of the peculiar smell of Tansey, the leaves are 

 so like it, that it would be difficult to distinguish them. 

 Native of Italy, Dauphiny, and Switzerland. 



7. Sisymbrium Ceratophyllum ; Horn-leaved Wild Rocket. 

 Siliques elliptic; leaves linear-subulate, pinnatifid-toothed, 

 pubescent. Stem ascending ; root annual ; corolla yellow. 

 Found in the sands near Cassa in Barbary. 



8. Sisymbrium Coronopifolium ; Buckthorn-leaved Wild 

 Rocket. Siliques linear, incurved ; leaves lanceolate, pinna- 

 tifid, tootl'.ed, pubescent; stem ascending. It flowers in 

 winter. Native of the sands near Cassa in Barbary. 



9. Sisymbrium Tenuifolium ; Fine-leaved Wild Rocket. 

 Siliques erect; leaves smooth, almost quite entire, pinnatifid 

 or bipinnatifid ; upper ones entire. Root perennial, fusiform, 

 whitish, somewhat woody; stem very much branched, a foot 

 and half high; flowers large, lemon or straw coloured, hand- 

 some, but smelling unpleasantly. It flowers from July to 

 October, and is a native of Germany, France, Piedmont, 

 Switzerland, and England ; where it is found on many old walls 

 and castles, as about the Tower of London, London bridge, 

 Hyde Park; also near Windsor, Chester, Bristol, Yarmouth, 

 Lichfield, Taunton, Exeter, Berwick, Sunderland, &c. 



10. Sisymbrium Sagittatum ; Arrow-leaved Wild Rocket. 

 Pubescent : siliques cylindrical, declined ; leaves obovate- 

 oblong, toothed ; root-leaves hastate ; stem-leaves sagittate, 

 embracing. It flowers in May and June. Native of Siberia. 



11. Sisymbrium Amplexicaule ; Clasping-leaved Wild 

 Rocket. Smooth: siliques compressed, erect; leaves toothed; 

 root-leaves obovate; stem-leaves oblong, cordate, embracing. 

 Root annual ; stems even, erect, having a few short hairs at 

 the base, smooth above, branched, slightly streaked. Native 

 of the hills about Algiers. 



