CRUCIFER/E 81 



CAMELINA Crantz. 



Flowers small, yellow. Pod obovoid, valves very convex, mid- 

 rib distinct, with flattened edges forming a narrow margin round 

 the pod. Style slender. Erect annuals with auricled leaves. 



A genus of only about 3 species (Europe and North Asia) growing 

 in crops. Bentham said they may " possibly be reducible to one 

 species." 



In Switzerland botanists have named three forms : C. saliva 

 Crantz, which is subspontaneous here and there, C. microcarpa 

 Andrz., and C. Alyssum Thellung, which is usually found in fields 

 of Flax. 



One of these forms we noticed in 1911 in a field where Flax had 

 been previously grown at 4500 feet, near Argentiere in Haute- 

 Savoie. 



SISYMBRIUM L. 



Annual, or rarely perennial, erect herbs, glabrous or with spread- 

 ing hairs. Flowers small, yellow or white. Pods linear, nearly 

 cylindrical, the lateral nerves of the valves more or less distinct. 

 Stigma entire, small or capitate, closely sessile on the summit of 

 the valves. Seeds in a single row, ovoid or oblong, not flattened. 



A large genus spread over the northern hemisphere, but with 

 very few Alpine species. 



Sisymbrium tanacetifolium L. (Hugueninia tanacetifolia Reich.). 



Stem 2 feet high or more, erect, branching at the top, very leafy. 

 Leaves pinnatifid, with numerous lanceolate, incised, dentate lobes, 

 pale green. Flowers yellow, small. Sepals 2-3 times shorter than 

 the pedicel. Fruiting-spikes short, in corymbose panicles, with 

 erect pedicels. Silicules ascending, short, compressed. Valves 

 with i nerve. Seeds large, oval, brown, finely spotted. 



Pastures and stony places in siliceous mountains, especially in 

 the Mountain Alder zone. July, August. 



Distribution. Savoie, Dauphine", Provence, Central Pyrenees, 

 Spain, Piedmont, as at Mont Cenis. In Switzerland only in Valais. 



A useful plant for the shadier parts of the rock garden among 

 big stones ; the foliage being handsome. 



Sisymbrium strictissimum L. 



A large perennial species, 3 feet or more high, erect, branching, 

 and very leafy, pubescent. Leaves lanceolate, entire, or toothed, 

 often glandular. Flowers yellow, larger than in most species, 

 fragrant. Sepals shorter than the pedicels, which are erect, but 

 spreading. Silicules spreading or curved, long, cylindrical, slender. 

 Valves with 3 nerves. Seeds linear-oblong, brown, glossy, in one 

 row. 



