TEE ART ATJirM OF NinV ZEALAND FLORA. 



lit 



of the heart. The derivation of tht> name Cardainiiie is from the Greek words karclia tlie 

 heart, and damceo to suhdue. The New Zealand species arc: (1). ('. hirsuta, leaves 

 pinnate; (2). C. depuessa, leaves spathnlate ; (3). C. stvlosa, leaves sinuate lohed ; 

 (i). C. FASTIGIATA, leaves loiii?, deeply toothed. 



1. CARDAMINE HIRSUTA {Linn.) The Hairy Cardaniine. 



Specific Chabacter. — A very variable, slender branched, 

 rarely simple, glabrous, or slightly hairy annual, 12 -18 in. 

 high, ereet or decunihent, sonietinics assuming a jierennial 

 rootstock, especially near the sea. Leaves pinnate; Leallets 

 few, opposite, or alternate, entire or lobed, orbicular oblong- 

 ovate, or cordate, usually on slender petioles, sometimes re- 



duced to one. Flowering branches eomclimes reduced to 

 capillary 1-llowered scapes. Flowers small, white (sometimes 

 ■1-androus in Kuropc). Pod-« J-l.J iti. long, slcniler, on slender 

 ]icdicels, obtuse or jiroduced into acuminate styles. Seeds 

 small, pale vcllow-i-cd. —Handbook' of New Zealaud Flora, 

 p. 13. 



Description, etc.— Fig. 1, Plate No. 6.— The " HAIRY CARDAMINE."— This 

 herb is abundant throughout the Islands, esjiecially in moist and shady situations. 

 There are four recognized varieties in New Zealand, differing somcAvhat in habit and 

 structure. The succulent members of the family form an excellent salad. In Britain 

 and elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere this plant is an annual, but, in the more 

 equable climate of the Southern Hemisphere, it is usually a perennial. C. hirstila, is a 

 common Aveed everywhere in England, varying in height from six to eighteen inches, 

 according to soil and situation. The leaves and flowers of this species form an agreeable 

 salad. This species, and, it is said, others, j^roduce young jilants from the leaves. The 

 Cuckoo Flower, or Lady's Smock, (C. prcttensis,) is a common and very pretty meadow 

 plant, witli large pale lilac flowers. Its first English name is due to its blossoming -when 

 the Cuckoo sings, and its second, to, the fact that its flowers are produced in such 

 abundance as to give the meadows the appearance of a bleaching ground, covered with 

 clothes laid on the grass to dry. These flowers are associated with pleasant memories 

 of spring, and join with the CoAvslip, Primrose and Harebell to compose many a rustic 

 nosegay. A double variety is sometimes found wild, which is remarkably proliferous, 

 the leaflets where they come in contact Avith the ground producing new plants ; and the 

 flowers, as they Avither, sending up a stalked floAver-bud from their centre. The plants 

 are warmly stomachic, and have the flavour of AAatercress. 



OTHER SPECIES OF CARDAMINE. 



2. C. DEPRESSA. 



A glabrous, or pilose, stemless perennial. Leaves croAvded, rosulate. Flowers small, 

 white. This species has tAvo varieties. Found at high altitudes in the Middle Island. 



