TOWEE BOCK CEESS WATEE CEESS. 35 



The Tower Rock Cress (A. turrita), is found on old walls about 

 Oxford and Cambridge. Edward will, doubtless, procure it for 

 us in a year or two. Its flowers are sulphur-coloured. 



The Tower Mustard (Turritis glabra), is a wand-like plant 

 with numerous slender pods pressed close to the stem, and 

 yellow flowers. We have none of us found it. 



The Winter Cresses, or Wild Rockets, are a gay family of 

 this order, adorning many a sandy bank and rubbish-ground 

 with their spikes of golden flowers. 



The common Yellow Rocket (Barbarea vulgaris), is frequently 

 found in such situations. It has a tough smooth stem, leaves 

 of a full bright green, and of the form called lyrate that is, 

 not divided to the stem so as to deserve the term pinnate, but 

 too much divided to be merely notched. 



The Early Winter Cress (B. prsecox), has smaller flowers 

 and the stem-leaves are pinnate. It is not a common plant. 



We now come to the true Cresses, or Nasturtiums, in no 

 way allied to the flower called by that name in our gardens, 

 which is merely the namesake of these wild plants because of 

 a similarity in flavour and in adaptation for salad. The Water 

 Cress (N. officinale), is more generally known by its foliage than 

 its flower. Few are unfamiliar with the fresh branches served 

 up for breakfast salad, alike in town and country ; but many 

 would not recognise the spike of white cruciform flowers as 

 belonging to the same plant. We associate much of pleasing 

 romance with the idea of "Water Cress girls" going out from 

 the smoky town to cull the fresh herbs at sunrise ; but I saw 

 the unromantic system of the trade in full last year, and my 

 ideas are considerably tamed down in consequence. Travelling 

 from London into Hertfordshire by an early train, I perceived 

 acres of ground here and there, for miles along the banks of 

 the New River, interspersed with broad shallow ditches. 

 These had been cut on purpose to cultivate Water Cresses for 

 the London market. Across these Water Cress gardens planks 

 were thrown ; and, in lieu of pretty maidens in blue petticoats 



