226 



NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



There are few tinctorial Crucifers ; the chief are Neslia panicu- 

 lata, 1 and Woad 2 {Pastel ; figs. 257-260), formerly so much prized 

 in Europe as a blue dye. 



The Eose of Jericho 3 (fig. 209) has been celebrated as a curiosity 

 since the crusades. In dry weather its branches roll up in a ball, 

 and are torn up and carried by the winds over the sands of the 

 desert. It has given rise to thousands of fables and fantastic tales. 

 In the East it is still believed that if it expands in the lying-in room, 

 it presages a prompt and easy delivery. Finally there are many 

 Crucifers that adorn our gardens by their beautiful flowers or their 

 sweet scent. Of those with beautiful corollas, white, yellow, violet, or 

 red, we need only mention the various species of Wallflower, Stock, 

 Honesty, Thlaspi, Aubrietia, Malcolmia, Moricandia? &c. Certain 

 species of Brassica are ornamental owing to the variegation or quaint 

 form of their leaves, which are laciniate, curly or crumpled, green, or 

 spotted with purple white or yellow. 



1 Destx., in Journ. Bot., iii. 162. It was 

 used in the same way as Woad. 



2 Isatis tinctoria L., Spec, 936. — G^RTN., 

 Fruct., ii. t. 142, fig. 6. — Schk., Handb., 1. 188.— 

 Spach, Suit, a Buffon, vi. 575. — Gtjib., loc cit., 

 682, fig. 756. — Rosenth., op. cit., 640. (Ghiede, 

 Vouede, Gaude, &c.) 



3 Anastatica hierochuntina L., Spec, 985. — 

 Guib., loc cit., 679. — H. Bn., in Diet. Encycl. 

 dts Sc. Med., iv. 188 (Jerose hygrometrique). 



4 Orychophragmus sonchifoliits, which has the 



flowers of Moricandia, is cultivated, though 

 much more rarely, with far more difficulty; so 

 are the Heliophilas, some of which have pretty 

 blue flowers; and, in the conservatory, Porphy- 

 rocodon pictum, which has probably the most 

 beautiful flowers of the order. [For details and 

 bibliography of the mode of fertilization of the 

 flowers in this order, see H. Mulleh, Befruchiung 

 der Blumen durch Insekten (Leipsig, 1873), 

 133-142]. 



