BRASSICACE^E, OR CRUCIFERJE. 



Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 58. 



COCHLEARIA. 



Calyx spreading, equal at the base ; sepals concave. Petals 

 obovate, obtuse. Stamens not toothed. Silicle globose ovate 

 or oblong ; dissepiment thin ; valves ventricose thickish ; cells 

 seldom 2-seeded, usually many-seeded. Style very short. Seeds 

 not bordered. Cotyledons flat, accumbent. (O=) 



189. C. officinalis Linn, sp.pl 903. Eng. Bot. t. 551. Woodv. 

 i. t. 29. DC.prodr. i. 173. C. renifolia Stokes bot. mat. med. 

 iii. 435. Sea coast of the north of Europe ; also in moun- 

 tainous wet situations. (Scurvy grass.) 



Herbage smooth, bright green, many-stemmed, branched. Radical 

 leaves petiolate, broadly ovate, bluntly cordate at base, somewhat 

 toothed ; cauline ovate, sessile, amplexicaul, coarsely toothed, almost 

 incised. Racemes terminal. Pedicels 4-5 lines long. Silicles ovate, 

 globose, 2-3 lines long, twice as short as their pedicels, with a broad 

 ovate partition. Once in great repute as an antiscorbutic. It is 

 stimulant and diuretic if eaten fresh, but becomes inert when dried. 



190. C. Armoracia Linn. sp. pi. 904. Woodv. iii. t. 150. 

 Eng. Bot. t. 2223. DC. prodr. i. 173. S. and C. ii. t. 114. 

 Pa,(pa,vn; aypia, Dioscorid. Watery, somewhat mountainous parts 

 of Europe. (Horseradish.) 



Root white, taper, thick, long, very tenacious of life, acrid. Stems 

 erect, about 2 feet high, branched at the top ; those branches which 

 flower corymbose, smooth, angular. Radical leaves stalked, very large, 

 oblong, crenated, veiny ; cauline sessile, smaller, the lower pinnatifid, 

 pectinate, with entire or somewhat toothed obtuse lobes, the upper 

 long lanceolate, toothed, or entire. Flowers white. Calyx spreading. 

 Silicles elliptical, usually abortive. The root is stimulant, diaphoretic, 

 and diuretic, and externally rubefacient. It is used in paralysis, rheuma- 

 tism, dropsy, and some cutaneous affections. A syrup mad'e with a con- 

 centrated infusion of it, removes hoarseness arising from relaxation . 

 Thomson. Steeped in cold milk it is said to form one of the best 

 cosmetics Burnett. 



CARDAMINE. 



Calyx closed or somewhat spreading, equal at the base. Pe- 

 tals unguiculate, entire. Stamens distinct, not toothed. Pod 

 sessile, linear, compressed, with flat nerveless valves rather nar- 

 rower than the thickened dissepiment, and often separating with 

 elasticity ; style short or ; stigma nearly simple. Seeds 

 ovate, in 1 row, not bordered. Umbilical cftrds slender. (O = ) 

 91 



