CRUCIFER^E 39 



S. incana L. - - Brassica adpressa Boiss. Plant biennial, hispid, greyish- 

 green. Lower leaves lyrate, petioled, upper ones lanceolate, entire. Flowers 

 small, yellow. Pedicels short, thick, appressed to the stem. Pods short, 

 cylindric, erect, torulose, valve i nerved. Beak 8 ribbed, swollen. 



Waste and cultivated places. May-July. 



ERUCA DC. 



E. sativa Lam. = Brassica Eruca L. Plant annual, hispid at the base, 

 -2 ft. high. Leaves thick, lyrate, dentate with large terminal lobe. Flowers 

 white or yellowish-white, veined with violet, large. Pods erect, short, terete, 

 valves convex, i nerved ; beak half length of siliqua, compressed. Very dwarf 

 specimens were in flower on February 28, 1913, on the low sea cliff east of Beau 

 Rivage (Var). 



Fields and waste places, rather rare. April, May. 



MORICANDIA DC. 



Moricandia arvensis DC. (Plate V). Plant biennial, glabrous and glau- 

 cous. Stems woody at base, erect, branched, about a foot high. Leaves rather 

 fleshy, entire or sinuate; lower ones obovate, petiolate, upper ones oblong, 

 sessile, auricled. Flowers violet, veined, large. Siliqua linear, with short beak ; 

 valves i nerved. 



Banks, walls, and road-sides ; very rare. Flowers nearly all the year but 

 chiefly from April to June. Abundant about Ventimiglia, towards La Mortola and 

 on railway banks near Bordighera. 



DRAB A L. 



D. verna L. = Erophila vulgaris DC. Whitlow-grass. A small annual 

 plant, more or less hairy and very variable. Stem naked, 1-6 in. high. 

 Leaves in a radical rosette, lanceolate-spathulate. Flowers white, very small. 

 Pods oval or oblong, glabrous, many seeded. 



Dry, sandy places, very common. February-May. Numerous varieties a nd 

 sub-species have been named. 



D. muralis L. Wall Draba. Plant annual, hairy, 6-12 in. high. Stem 

 usually simple or slightly branched, leafy. Leaves oval or oblong, entire or 

 toothed, the root-leaves in a rosette, the stem-leaves sessile, auricled, embracing 

 the stem. Flowers white, very small. Fruiting spike elongated, loose ; pedicels 

 spreading, t%vice as long as the oval pods. 



Old walls, banks, and shady places ; local. April-June. 



D. aizoides L. Leaves in small radical rosettes, leathery, linear, entire, 

 edged with stiff cilia. Stem naked, erect 1-3 in. high. Flowers bright 

 yellow. Mountains and sub-alpine rocks. April-June. Frequent in the Mari- 

 time Alps and at the summit of the Marges and Mt. de la Chens in the Var, but 

 perhaps not within our altitudinal limits. 



ALYSSUM L. 



A. halimifolium L. Plant woody at the base, shrubby, silvery white. 

 Leaves oblong, obtuse. Flowers white, rather large, in a dense corymb. Pods 

 orbicular, glabrous, 3 times length of style. Seeds broadly winged. 



Rocky places in the lower mountains of eastern Var (Haut-Esclapon) and 

 Alpes-Marit., e.g. above Menton, Sospel, Saorgio, etc. On limestone by the 

 road towards S. Dalmazzo di Tenda. April-May. 



A. spinosum L. is a small spiny shrub found on Mts. Coudon and Faron, 

 and Mont Caoume". April-June. 



A. maritimum Latnk. (Plate V). Sweet Alyssum. Plant hardly shrubby, 

 but ligneous at the base. Leaves linear, greyish, small. Flowers white or pale 

 rose, scented, small, in a long corymb when developed. Pods elliptic, convex, 

 pubescent ; seeds slightly winged. 



Sandy and rocky places, extremely common near the sea throughout the 

 littoral, flowering almost through the year. 



