THE MUSTARD FAMILY. 199 



to the peculiar shape of its pods, they being infinitely better known than its 

 numerous and minute flowers. In the early season when in bloom, for it is 

 one of the spring's harbingers, the whole plant is collected by the people to 

 be used in medicinal preparations. 



WATER-CRESS. 



Ron pa Nastiirtiuin. 



FlcTcvers : very small ; growing i-n racemes; the sepals and petals persistent for 

 a long time. Pods : linear ; spreading their small seeds in two distinct rows. 

 Leaves : pinnately divided into three to nine segments, of which the terminal one 

 is almost orhicular and considerably larger than the others ; glabrous, bright 

 green ; thin. An aquatic herb, usually floating, although also of a creeping 

 habit and producing roots from the nodes. 



About this little aquatic there is something very fresh looking especially 

 when it is reflected in water from the banks of a brook, or grows thickly 

 about the edges. Although it is common with us, it has been naturalized 

 from Europe. It is also widely cultivated for use as a salad. 



MOUNTAIN BITTER=CRE5S. 



Ca rdc I ni ine CI cm a 1 1 tis. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Mustard. White. Scentless. Alabama to I'irginia. April-July. 



FIoToers: growing in short racemes, their ascending pedicels short. Petals : two 

 or three times longer than the sepals. Pods : slender; ascending. Leaves : both 

 basal and cauline, long ])etioled and occurring simple and orbicular with cordate 

 or rounded base, or divided into usually three broadly ovate or rounded leaflets, 

 of which the terminal one is larger than the other two; either crenate, entire, or 

 irregularly toothed. Stem: slender; ascending; purple tinted. 



At about the same time that the spring beauty spreads its carpet of 

 bloom through the wet woods, flecks of white are beginning to show on 

 this one of the mustards. It thrives on the high mountains within its range,' 

 often growing close to some cool and shaded brook, and in the autumn is 

 conspicuous for its leaves, which are very variable, and turn to exquisite 

 shades of purple. The generic name of this group of mustards, meaning 

 heart-strengthening, is in reference to the fact that some of the members 

 were formerly employed as curatives for epilepsy and hysteria. 



C. bulbbsa, bulbous cress, is a pretty one which grows erectly from a 

 bulbous root, and bears rather large, white flowers with elongated petals. 

 The leaves are undivided and form the round or often heart-shaped ones at 

 the base of the stem ; they vary to those uppermost which are sessile and 

 lanceolate, or linear. 



