CRUCIFERiE. 1(31 



Plate 70. 

 VESICARIA, Lam. 



Silicula inflata, globosa ; valvis haemisphericis aut valde 

 convexis : septo lato orbiculari. Semina plura, funiculis basi 

 septo adnatis. Cotyledones planas accumbentes. Filamen- 

 ta edentula. — Herbae pilis stellatis plerumque canescentes. 

 Flores flavi. 



Vesicaria, Lam. III. t. 550. R. Br. in Ait. Kcw. ed. 2. 4. p. 07. Desv. 



in Jour. Bot. 3. p. 171. DC. Syst. 2. p. 205. Torr. & Gray, FI. 



N. Am. 1. p. 101 (excl. § 3). Endl. Gen. 4869. 

 Alyssi Sp , Linn. Schkuhr, Handb. t. 181. 



Calyx equal at the base ; the sepals loose, oblong. Pe- 

 tals obovate or cuneiform-spatulate, entire or barely emar- 

 ginate, more or less unguiculate, spreading, in aestivation 

 either entirely convolute, or one of them exterior. Fila- 

 ments filiform or subulate, toothless, commonly more or less 

 thickened at the base : anthers oblong. Glands (in V. 

 Engelmannii) two more or less united at the base of each 

 short stamen. Ovary globular or ovoid, usually raised on a 

 very short thick stipe : style filiform, elongated : stigma 

 capitate. Ovules numerous, horizontal or pendulous in two 

 rows in each cell ; the funiculi adnate more or less to the 

 partition. 



Silicle globose-inflated, sessile on the receptacle, or some- 

 what stipitate : the valves hemispherical and membrana- 

 ceous, or strongly convex and nearly coriaceous, nerveless : 

 partition (rarely imperfect) broad, orbicular or broadly obo- 

 vate ; the areolae (in V. Engelm. ) oblong or linear, sinuous, 

 directed towards the axis. Seeds 4 to 12 in each cell, in 

 two rows, on filiform funiculi which are adnate to the parti- 

 tion for a part of their length, orbicular, compressed, often 

 margined. Cotyledons flat, parallel with the septum, ac- 

 cumbent : the radicle ascending on the side remote from 

 the placenta. 



