228 OKDEK XIII. CRUCIFER^. 



turn, sometimes 1-celled ; cells 1-seeded ; seeds globose-trique- 

 trous. Herbaceous plants with small white flowers 



1. C. Did'yma, (Pursh.) Stem branching, lying flat on the earth. 

 Leaves alternate, sessile, pinnately divided ; the lobes 3 — 4-parted, 

 toothed or incised, mucronate. Flowers in small corymbs, opposite the 

 leaves ; but by the elongation of the raehis, the fruit is in racemes. 

 Calyx 4-leaved. Petals none, or very minute. Silicle emarginate. — 

 White. ® or 5 . February — June. Open, dry fields. Common. 



2. C. Ruel'lii, (Pursh.) Resembles the preceding, and grows with it. 

 Leaves pinnately divided ; segments entire, toothed, or piunatifid. 

 Flowers few. Style prominent. Silicle entire, not emarginate. 



Genus XIV.— LEPID'IUM. L. 14— 1. {Wild Pepper-grass.) 

 (From the Greek lepis, a scale, in allusion to the form of the pods.) 



Silicle cordate, emarginate, 2-seeded ; valves keeled. Seeds 

 compressed. 



1. L. Virgin'icum, (L.) Steyyi herbaceous, branching generally, leafy, 

 glabrous. Leaves alternate, sessile, eiliate, notched ; upper ones smaller 

 and nearly entire. Flowers in terminal racemes. Sepals lanceolate, 

 membranaceous along the margin, pubescent on the back. Petals a 

 little longer than the sepals. Silicle compressed, orbicular, slightly 

 emarginate. — White. @. Through the summer. Common. 



Genus XV.— CAPSEL'LA. Vent. 14—1. {Thlaspi, L.) 

 (The diminative of capsula, a little capsule.) 



Silicle triangular, cuneiform ; valves boat-shaped, wingless, 

 coriaceous ; cells small, many-seeded. 



1. C. bur'sa-pas'toris, (L.) Stem erect, furrowed, slightly branched. 

 Radical leaves pinnatifid, tapering at the base into a petiole; cauline 

 leaves small, entire, or with a few teeth, connate, lanceolate, pubes- 

 cent. Flowers in elongated racemes. — White. %. Sent to me by 

 Wm. S. Rockwell, Esq., Baldwin Co. 12 baches. 



Genus XVI.— CAK'ILE. Tourn. 14—1. 

 (An old Arabic name.) 



Silicle lanceolate, somewhat 4-aijgled, jointed. Seed in the 

 upper cell erect, in the lower pendulous. Annual maritime 

 herbs. 



1. C. mariti'ma, (Scop.) Stem erect, with expanding branches. Leaves 

 alternate, oblong, cuneiform, sinuately toothed, lower ones sometimes 

 nearly hastate. Flowers in terminal corymbose racemes. Lower joint 

 of the silicle short, the upper one with a line on each side. Seed 1 in 

 each jointj oval, glabrous. — White. 0. April — July. On the coast. 



This plant deserves the attention of the gardener as a culinary vegetable. It bas 

 been, in some cases, cultivated, and has always been highly esteemed. Many other 

 nseful plants belong to this order. The Horseradish is the CocJdearia armoracea. 

 Isatis tinctoria yields the Woad, which yields a blue dye. Cvanibe maritima is the 

 eea-kale. 



