CEUCIFEB^. 101 



The common Cress of our gardens is the L. sativum, a native of west 

 central Asia, 



1. Field Cress. Iiepidiuiu campestre, £r. 



(Thlaspi, Eng. Bot. t. 1385. 3Iithridate Peppenvort.) 

 An annual or biennial, near a foot high, more or less hoary with minute 

 scaly hairs, or rarely quite glabrous ; the ston solitary, erect or nearly so, 

 usually branched in the upper part. Eadical leaves stalked, oblong, entire 

 or pinnatifid, with a large terminal lobe ; the upper ones oblong or lanceo- 

 late, entu-e or slightly toothed, clasping the stem with short, pointed auricles. 

 Flowers very small. Pods numerous, on spreading pedicels, broadly ovate, 

 thick when ripe, nearly surrounded by the wing, which is narrow at the 

 base, but broad and slightly notched at the top, with a short, often very 

 minute style. 



In hUly pastures, cultivated and waste places, over the greater part of 

 Europe, from Sweden to the Caucasus. Generally distributed over Eng- 

 land, Ireland, and southern Scotland. Fl. summer. 



2. Smith's Cress. Iiepidiuxa Smithii, Hook. 

 {Thlaspi hirtum, Eng. Bot. t. 1803.) 



Very near the Jield C, but forms a more or less perennial stock. The 

 stems are several together, mucli shorter, and decumbent at the base ; the 

 foliage more hany, the flowers not quite so small, and the pod glabrous. 



In hilly pastures, cidtivated and waste places in western Europe, from 

 Spain and Portugal, up western France, to England, Ireland, and southern 

 Scotland. Fl. sprhig and autumn. It should, perhaps, be united as a mere 

 variety with the L. hirtum, from, south-western Europe, which is hairy all 

 over, including the pods, and the i. heterophyllum from western Europe, 

 which is glabrous all over. 



3. Hoary Cress. Iiepidium Draba, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. Suppl. t. 2683.) 



A perennial ahout a foot high, more or less hoary with a minute 

 down. The stems stout and erect, branching in the upper part. Leaves 

 oblong or broadly lanceolate, usually sliglitly toothed, 14 to 2 inches long, 

 the lower ones stalked, the upper ones clasping the stem with projecting 

 am-icles. Racemes not much lengthened, forming a broad flat corymb. 

 Pods about 2 hues broad and not quite so long, very thick, the valves 

 sharjaly keeled but not winged, the style prominent. 



In waste places, by roadsides, etc. ; common in central and southern 

 Europe, and temperate Russian Asia. Rare in Britain, and only as an in- 

 troduced weed in a few English comities. Fl. spring or early suimner. 



4. Broad-leaved Cress. Iiepidiuxa latifolium, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 182.) 

 A stout, erect perennial, attaining 2 feet or even more in height, of a pale 

 green, but glabrous. Stems much branched in the upper part, but forming 

 a large loose panicle, not a flat corymb as in the hoary C. Eadical leaves 

 large, ovate, toothed, on long stalks ; stem-leaves oblong or broadly lanceo- 

 late, 2 or 3 inches long, the lower ones stalked and mostly toothed, the 

 upper sessile, but tapering at the base, and often entire. Pods about 1 line 

 long and broad, the valves scarcely keeled and not wingedj the style almost 

 imperceptible. 



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