MUSTARD FAMILY 



CRUCIFERAE 



FALSE ROCKET. PURPLE ROCKET 



lodanthus pinnatifidus (Michx.) Steud. 



The common name of this plant comes from the latter's 

 similarity to another plant with larger flowers, which is 

 cultivated in gardens under the name Rocket. 



The False Rocket 

 never becomes a 

 weed. It grows mostly 

 along river banks and 

 in moist woods, and 

 is found from western 

 Pennsylvania to 

 Minnesota and south 

 to Tennessee, Louis- 

 iana, Missouri and 

 Texas. It is the only 

 species of lodanthus 

 and is not found in 

 other parts of the 

 world. The flowers 

 bloom in May and 

 June and the fruits 

 mature in July and 

 August. 



The plant is a 

 smooth erect peren- 

 nial 1-3 feet high, branching toward the top. The lower leaves 

 are ovate or oblong and 2-8 inches long. They taper into mar- 

 gined petioles which have earlike appendages at the base and 

 clasp the stem. The leaf forms vary greatly froni the base to the 

 top of the stem; an upper leaf is shown. 



The many flowers are purple, brightening to violet or even 

 whitish. They are one-quarter inch broad and on spreading 

 pedicels. The 4 sepals and 4 long petals are all quite slender. 

 The 6 stamens are arranged as usual in this family, with 2 

 shorter than the other 4, but the pistil is provided with a stout 

 style. The fruit is an ascending linear pod i-i^^ inches long, 

 somewhat flattened and containing several oblong seeds in 2 

 rows separated by a thin partition. 



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