138 CRUCIFERjE. 



Etymology, &c. Name from dens, a tooth ; in allusion to the rhizoma, 

 which is beset with tooth-like processes (the rudiments or vestiges of leaf- 

 stalks) in most species : these are very strongly marked in our D. diphylla ; 

 which is commonly called Pepperroot, from the pungent taste (much like 

 that of Water-cresses) of its coral-like rootstock. The proper English pop- 

 ular name is Toothwort. 



Geographical Distribution, &c. A genus (scarcely distinct from 

 Cardamine) of about twenty known species, natives of the northern temper- 

 ate zone. Five species belong to trie United States ; two of which are 

 widely diffused, while the others are local or rare. — The species chosen for 

 our illustration is the least known of all. Mr. Nuttall described it from un- 

 usually luxuriant specimens, which he found " in the western parts of the 

 State of New York and Pennsylvania.'' It has since been gathered only at 

 Watertown, New York, by the lamented Dr. Crawe (in whose untimely 

 death by drowning, since our drawing was made, Botany has lost a most as- 

 siduous devotee) : but none of the specimens are so tall and leafy as Nuttall 

 describes, nor do they deserve the name of D. maxima. 



PLATE 56. Dentaria maxima, Nutt. ; — in fruit, of the natural size. 

 (Specimen from Watertown, New York, Dr. Crawe.) 



1. A flower, of the natural size. 



2. Upper part of a silique, from which the valves have fallen, magnified ; 



showing two of the seeds, the lower one transversely divided. 



3. Tissue from the partition, highly magnified. 



4. The fleshy embryo detached, magnified. 



5. A transverse section of the same, showing the unequal accumbent 



cotyledons. . 



