White and Greenish 



Flmvering Seaso?; — April — ^June. 



Disfnbiition—'Hovd Scotia to Florida, west to Minnesota and Texas. 



Pretty masses of this flower, tliat look like borders of garden 

 candytuft planted beside some trickling brook, are visited and 

 cross-fertilized by small bees, of the Andreiia and HaluUis clans 

 chiefly. How well the butterflies understand scientiflc classifica- 

 tion with instinct for their sure guide ! The caterpillar of that 

 exquisite little white butterfly with a dark yellow triangular spot 

 across his wings, the fulcate 'orange-tip {Euchloc gcnttlia), a first- 

 cousin of the common small white cabbage butterfly, feeds on this 

 plant and several of its kin, knowing better than if' the books had 

 told it so, that all belong to the same cross-bearing family. The 

 watery, biting juice in the Cnicifcrae— the radishes, nasturtiums, 

 cabbage, peppergrass, water-cress, mustards, and horseradish — 

 by no means protects them from preying worms and caterpillars; 

 but ants, the worst pilferers of nectar extant, let them alone. Au- 

 thorities declare that the chloride of potassium and iodine these 

 plants contain increase their food value to mankind. 



The Purple Cress (C. purpurea), formerly counted a mere va- 

 riety of the preceding, has now been ranked' as a distinct species. 

 Its purplish-pink flowers, found about cold, springy places north- 

 ward, appear two or three weeks earlier than those of the white 

 spring cress. 



The Meadow Bitter-cress (or Cross), Ladies' Smock, or 

 Cuckoo-flower (C. prafensis), an immigrantfrom Europe and Asia 

 now naturalized here north of New Jersey from coast to coast, lifts 

 its larger and more showy white or purplish-pink flowers, that 

 stand well out from the stem on slender pedicels, in loose clus- 

 ters above watery low-lying ground in April and May. 



" Lady-smocks all silver wliite " 



now paint our meadows with delight, as they do Shakespeare's 

 England ; but ours have quite frequently a decided pink tinge. 

 The light and graceful growth, and the pinnately divided foliage, 

 give the plant a special charm. In olden times, when it was 

 counted a valuable remedy in hysteria and epilepsy, Linnaeus gave 

 it its generic name Cardaiuine from two Greek words signifying 

 heart-strengthening. 



More bees, flies, butterflies, and other insects visit the ladies' 

 smock than perhaps any other crucifer found here, since it has 

 showy flowers and so much nectar the long-persistent sepals re- 

 quire little pouches to hold it. No wonder this plant has trium- 

 phantly marched around the world, leaving its relatives that take 

 less pains to woo and work insects far behind in the race. Ow- 

 ing to a partial revolution of the tall stamens away from the stig- 

 mas, a visitor in sipping nectar must brush off some pollen on his 



189 



