124 



POPULAR FLORA. 



Dicentra. Diccntra (wrongly called Dlehjtra), 

 Tlie species are perennials with singular and handsoine flowers in racemes, blossoming in spring. 

 * Wild species, in rich woods; the decompound and finely cut leaves and naked lUnvcr-stalk rising 

 separately from the ground, in early spring. Delicate low plants, chiefly found N. & W. 



1. Dutchman's Biseeches D. (Fig- 282-286.) Herbage from a sort of bulb of coarse grains; 



corolla white, tipped with cream-color, with 2 very large spurs. D. Cuvullaria. 



2. Squirkel-Corn D. Underground shoots bearing little yellow tuber-like bodies, resembling grains 



of Indian Corn; corolla white and flesh-color, fragrant like Hyacinths. D. Canadensis. 



* * Garden species, leafy-stemmed, 2° or 3° high, with Peony-like leaves. 



3. Showy D. Racemes drooping, one-sided ; flowers pink-purple, 1' long. Cultivated. D. qKCitihUis. 



Corydal. Cori/dalis. 

 Our two species are leafy-stemmed biennials, glaucous, with twice-pinnate leaves, and linear or 

 slender pods. They grow in rockj' places and flower in spring and summer. 



1. Golden C. Low and spreading; flowers yellow in simple racemes; pods hanging. C. aicrea. 



2. Pale C. Upright; flowers purplish and yellowish; racemes panicled; pods erect. C. (jlauca. 



10. CRUCIFEROUS OR CRESS FAMILY. Order CKUCIFER^E. 



Herbs, with alternate leaves, a sliarp-tasted watery juice (never poisonous, but often 

 very acrid or biting) ; perfectly distinguished by their cruciferous flowers, tetrad ynamous 

 stamens, and by having the sort of pod called a silique or sillcle (240, 

 241). The flower is called cruciferous because the 4 petals, with claws 

 enclosed in tne 4-sepalled calyx, have their blade spreading so as to form 

 the four arms of a cross. As to the stamens, they are G in number (on 

 the receptacle), two of them always shorter than the other four. The 

 pistil makes a pod, like that of the Celandine, &c. in the Poppy family 

 (Fig. 277), except that a partition stretches across between 

 the two thread-shaped placentas, and divides the cavity into 

 two cells. When the pod opens, the two valves fall away, 

 leaving the seeds attached to the edges of this frame. The 

 whole kernel of the seed is an embryo. It is always bent or 

 folded up, in various ways. The flowers of the whole family are 

 so much alike, that the genera ha^e to 

 be distinguished by their pods and seeds. 

 This makes the family too difficult for 

 the beginner. But so many plants of 

 the family are common in cultivation, 

 that we add a tabular key, leading to 

 the names of the principal kinds. 



293 



29'2 



2S9. Flower of Mustard. 290. Stamens nnd pistil, more magnified. 291 Pod (silique) of Toothwort, oiiening. 292. Pud (silicle or pouclr 

 of Shepherd's-Puise. 293. Same, with one valve fallen ofl'. 



