CRUCIFERjE. 29 



1. Lepidium sativum. Oar den-cress. 



Silicules orbiculate winged emarginate, leaves vari- 

 ously divided or cut, branches not spinescent. 



Var. y. latifolium, De Cand. Syst. II. 533. 



HAB. A common weed in the mountains, and moist situations. 



FL. Throughout the year 



This is said to have originally been indigenous to Persia, and 

 the Island of Cyprus. It has long been cultivated in the gar- 

 dens of Europe, and has become a very common weed in hilly 

 situations, and even in the plains, where the climate is moist, of 

 this Island. It is a favourite salad, and has the reputation of 

 being antiscorbutic and antiphthisical. 



VIII. BRASSICA. Cabbage, Turnip. 



Pod 2-valved (with a sterile 1-oc -seeded beak). 

 .Cotyledons conduplicate fO) Calyx erect. 

 Brown. 



Name, derived from the Celtic BRESIC a cabbage, according 

 to Theis. 



1. Brassica oleracea. Cabbage. 



Leaves glaucous'with pollen subcarnose repand or 

 lobed very glabrous. 



De Cand. Syst. II. 583. 



H \B Cultivated. 



FL. ? 



The following varieties of this useful vegetable are cultivated 

 in this Island: 1. BULL ATA; the Savoy cabbage. 2. CAPITATA; 

 including the following subvarieties or sorts ; A, RUBRA, the 

 red cabbage; B, DEPRESSA, the drum*head ; c, CONICA, the 

 sugar loaf, Battersea, and early York cabbages. 3. CAULORAPA, 

 the turnip stemmed cabbage. 4. BOTRYTIS, including, A, 

 CAULIFLORA, the cauliflower; and B, ASPARAGOIDES, the broccoli. 

 There is a 5th variety, ACEPHALA, of which one sort, RAMOSA 

 or Brussels' sprouts, is occasionally cultivated. Of these, the 

 early York is the most hardy, and comes to the greatest per- 

 fection. 



The Cabbage tribe is the most ancient as well as the most 

 extensive of all the classes of cultivated vegetables. The B. 

 OLERACEA SYLVESTRis, the original stock of this diversified race, 

 grows naturally along the sea-shore at the foot of Mount Athos 

 in Greece, along the West coast of England, and in the Firth of 

 Forth in S>tland. In this part of the world, we are indebted 

 for our supply of seeds of the different varieties to England and 



