CHARACTERS OF CRUCIFERS. 



125 



one who has examined them well. You know 



what I mean when I 



speak of the stamens of 



a flower, and you will 



always find in these 



flowers six stamens, two 



of which are constantly 



shorter than the other 



four. But in order to 



fix the memory of these 



important plants, run 



into the garden for a ( 



sprig of early winter 



cress, which is now in 



blossom, or look into the 



meadow beyond for a 



cuckoo-flower." 



The children all ran 

 off to execute this wel- 

 come commission, and 

 Mary was the first to espy a cuckoo-flower, or at 

 least, its near relation, the hairy cardamine ;* for 

 the real cuckoo-flowers, f or 



" Ladies' smocks, all silver white, 



That paint the meadows with delight," 

 * Cordamine hirsuta. t C. pratewif,. 



SHEPHERD'S PURSE. 

 (Thlaspi bursa pastoris.) 



