TETRADYNAMIA. SILIQUOSA. 75 



b. Catyx gaping; Icajlcts distant above. 



255. CARD AMINE. JVutt. Gen. 55S. 



[Gr. '"■ a Aa?'j (vel Kear,) cor, et damao, domo, quasi planta cordis deficientes vires restaurans." JBoerh-} 



Silique ojjening elasticallj'; valves mostly revolute, same length as the dissepiment. Stigma entire 



C ROTUNDiFOLiA. J^/x. Branching; slender; glabroiis; leavcs simple, suborbicular,pet!olate; pods Spreading. 



' Fi. Middle of May. /•>. victt. Middle of June. 



Hab. Shaded, swampy spring, at the Brandy wine: rare. 9 to 15 inches high: flowers white, smalli.sh. 



Obs- I have met with this plant in one spot only,— in a shaded, muddy spring, ct the foot of the hill, on the 

 •west side of Brandy wine, nearly opposite Jolm Taylor's Mill — whure it is pretty abundant. It would 

 appear that Dr. Muhlenberg had never seen it; as he seemed to think Michau:c'i description was intended 

 for tlie Arabis rhomboidea. But they are undoubtediy distinct plants. The roots of the Cardamine are 

 constantly tibrous; tiie stems mostly branching, somewhat procumbent, branches slender and weak; the 

 leaves are all petiolate, and nearly orbicular; the lower ones often two inches in diameter, and on pretty 

 long petioles, the upper ones gradually diminish in size, as they asx^end, the top ones not being more than 

 one third, or one half of an inch in diameter, and the petioles becoming shorter in the same in;umer. The 

 peduncles are spreading, almost divaricate; the petals are not more than half the size of those of A- rhom- 

 boidea; the stigma is simple, and very small, on a tapering stjie nearly aline in length. The plant is not 

 so acrid as the Arabis; but is rather bitter to the taste. In tine, I am well satisfied that this is Michaux's 

 C rotundifolia; in which opinion I am fortified by Dr. Torrey, to whom I sent specimens. 



C- PE]VNSYi.vANiCA. Ell- Glabrous; leaves pscudo-pinnate, segmentsroundish-oblong, obtuse; pods erect- 

 Synon. C. virginica.' Mx. ru/g-o—A.-nerican Water-cress. Lady's smock. 



Fl. Beginning of May. Fr. mat. Beginning of June. 



Jlab- Spring heads, rivulets, swamps, &c. frequent. 12 to IS inches high: flowers white. 



Obs- The silique is terminated by a short tapering style, or beak, as in the fore!?:oing; and, when matur'O, 

 the valves burst open with great elasticity, and roll up spirally. The leaves of the young plants are often 

 gathered, m the spring, and eaten, under the common name of '' water cresses." 



CLASS XV. MONADELPHIA. 



ORDER, TRIANDPcSA. 



256. SISYRINCHIU.M. Nntt. Gen. 26. 

 [Gr. Stjs, a hog, and Rhynchos, a snout; hogs being supposed to be fond of rooting it up. J 



Cal. spathe, 2 leaved. Cor. superior, 6 cleft, tube short. Caps. 3 celled, pedicellate beyond the spath. . 

 S. MUCRONATUM. Ell. Stem simple, setaccous; leavesnarrow; spathe colored; outer valve loug-mucronatc, 

 F"'oO~Sword-pointed Blue-eyed Grass. 



Fl. Middle of May, and after. Fr- mat. Last of June, and after- 



Hub. Low grounds, and meadows : frequent. 9 to 12 inches high: flowers blue. 



S. BERMUDiANU.M. Ell Stem ancipital, alate, leafy; leaves grass-like; spathe shorter than the flowers. 

 Synon. S. anceps.'PA. Bart. Fl. Phil. &c. Fit/go— Blue-eyed grass. 



Fl. Beginning of June, and after. Fr. mat. Middle of July. 



Hub. Woodlands; thickets, &c. frequent. 12 to 18 inches high: flowers blue- 



Obs. I can perceive no sufficient reason to remove this genus into the Class Triandria, so long as that o! 

 Monadelphia shali be deemed xyortby of a place in the Sexual Syslc:.;. 



257. LOBELIA. Nutt. Gen. .168. 

 llnhonoToi Matthias de. Label; a Flemish Botanist. J 

 Cal. 5 cleft. Cor. 1 petalled, irregular, upper side deeply clef'. Anthers cohering. C.ii's. 2 or 2 celle J 



L. ci.AYTONiANA. Ph. Simple; pubescent; leavcs oblong, obtuse; raceme virgate; bracfes subulate- 



il. Beginning of June till September. Fr. mat. Beginning of August, and after. 



Hak: Ficlds.nxeadows. and woodlands; frequent. 1 tn 3 fy-et high, slf-nd^r: flowers pale blue; small 



