ISATIS.] CRUCIFER^?. 43 



Temp. Europe, Asia, and N. Africa ; species 25-30. ETYM. The Greek 

 name of the genus. 



I. tincto'ria, L. ; pods obovate-oblong, tip rounded, wing thick. 

 Wild on cliffs by the Severn,Tewkesbury ; naturalized near Guildford ; sporadic 

 elsewhere ; (an alien, Wats.} ; fl. July-Aug. Glaucous, glabrous or nearly 

 so. Stem 1-3 ft., stout, erect, branched above. Radical leaves obloug-obo- 

 vate or lanceolate ; petiole long ; cauline 3-5 in., sessile. Flowers % in. 

 diam., in crowded panicled corymbs. Pods \ in. in short racemes, pendulous, 

 glabrous, brown when ripe ; stigma sessile in a minute notch ; seed linear- 

 oblong. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Asia. The ancient Britons stained them- 

 selves with it ; later, the Saxons imported it ; it js still cultivated in 

 Lincolnshire. 



23. CRAM'BE, L. SEA-KALE. 



Perennial herbs with stout branching stems. Leaves usually broad. 

 Flowers white, in long corymbose racemes. Sepals spreading, equal. 

 Longer filaments often with a tooth on the outside. Pods indehiscent, 

 2-jointed ; lower joint slender, seedless, forming a pedicel to the upper, 

 which is globose 1 -celled and 1-seeded ; stigma sessile. Seed globose, 

 pendulous from a basal funicle ; radicle incumbent, conduplicate. DISTRIB. 

 Europe, W. Asia ; species 16. ETYM. The Greek name of the plant. 



C. marit'ima, L. ; leaves broad waved toothed or pinnatifid. 

 Sandy and shingly sea-coasts, rare, from Fife and Isla southd. ; N. and "W". 

 Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. June-Aug. Rootstock as thick as the thumb, 

 fleshy, burrowing ; branches 1-2 ft., spreading. Leaves 6-10 in., fleshy, 

 petioled, broadly ovate-cordate oblong or orbicular, glabrous and glaucous ; 

 upper few and small. Corymbs much branched. Flowers in. diam., 

 white ; longer filaments toothed near the tip externally. Pods in., on 

 slender ascending pedicels 1 in. DISTRIB. Coasts from Finland to the Bay 

 of Biscay and the Black Sea. Formerly eaten wild, cultivated for about 

 200 years in England, whence it was introduced to the Continent. 



24. CAKI'LE, Gcertn. SEA ROCKET. 



Annual, large, fleshy, branched herbs. Leaves entire or pinnatifid. 

 Flowers white or purplish. Lateral sepals gibbous at the base. Pods 

 indehiscent 2-jointed ; joints angled, 1-celled, upper deciduous com- 

 pressed, seed basal ; lower cuneate, 2-edged, seed pendulous ; stigma 

 sessile. Radicle accumbent, sometimes oblique. DISTRIB. Sea-shores 

 of Europe and N. America ; species 2. ETYM. An Arabic word. 



C. marit'ima, Scop. ; suberect or decumbent, leaves entire or lobed. 

 Sandy and shingly shores, N. to Shetland, abundant ; Ireland ; Channel Islands ; 

 fl. June-July. Annual ; rather succulent ; branches 1-2 ft., zigzag, ascend- 

 ing. Leaves 2-3 in., fleshy. Flowers in. diam., corymbose ; pedicel stout. 

 Pods on short thick pedicels loosely racemed, ribbed when dry; lower 

 joint | in., broader upwards ; upper in., base truncate. DISTRIB. Europe, 

 N. Africa, Iceland. C. america'na, which is perhaps identical, extends 

 from the Canadian Lakes to the W. Indies. 



