COEALWOET BITTEE CEESS. 33 



with the juice of which the ancient Britons used to paint their 

 bodies, is a member of this tribe ; but I have not been able to 

 procure a specimen of it. 



We will open the Pod group with a Kentish treasure of 

 Edward's. The Coralroot (Dentaria bulbifera, Plate III., 

 fig. 4), is a very remarkable plant, the only one indigenous to 

 Britain which bears germinating buds upon the stem. This 

 habit is familiar to us as displayed in the Tiger Lily, whose 

 stem-buds are produced in abundance, and by them the plant 

 may be increased with enormous rapidity. Another beautiful 

 peculiarity of the Coralwort is the underground stem, by some 

 persons considered a part of the root. This is branched, with 

 thick scales at the joints, pure white, and in general effect 

 resembling coral hence the English name. The fibres con- 

 stituting the true root are attached to this coral-like stem. 

 The plant is rare, it grows from one to three feet high, and its 

 lilac blossoms resemble those of the Cuckoo-Flower. The leaves 

 are of three leaflets in the middle of the stem, of one towards 

 the top, and of five or seven where they spring near the base. 

 Although I have called it a Kentish specimen, I see it is in fact a 

 Sussex one, for Edward found it on moist ground in some plant- 

 ations on the estate of Lilies Den. The stream which divides 

 Kent from Sussex traverses this property, and the Coralwort 

 favours the Sussex side of the stream. The Cuckoo-Flower (Car- 

 damine pratensis, Plate III., fig. 5), so familiar an ornament of 

 moist woods and fields, is abundant everywhere. The colour of 

 the flowers varies to every shade between white and full lilac, and 

 the leaves are pinnate that is, composed of two rows of leaflets. 



The Hairy Bitter Cress (C. hirsutum), is welcome in early 

 spring for the fresh green of its foliage, although its little white 

 blossoms are very insignificant. The Narrow-leaved Bitter 

 Cress (C. impatiens), I found in the Chase Wood, near Ross, 

 Herefordshire, growing by the side of the path in damp places, 

 among a forest of the Wood Spurge. I greeted it joyfully, 

 having never before seen any but dried specimens which had 



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