BITTER CRESS 
The species of Alyssum are favourite plants for rock- 
h 16 ' work, dry borders, and edging. Most of them produce an 
abundance of small but bright blossoms, at a period when garden flowers 
are not very plentiful. They are of easy cultivation, and will succeed in 
any, well-drained soil, especially if it be of a stony character and in a 
sunny position. They may be raised from seed sown in the open border 
during March or April The perennial species may also be propagated 
by dividing the roots, or by taking cuttings from the young growths in 
August or September, and striking them in sandy loam in a frame or 
shady border. These will form neat little plants for blooming in the 
following spring. 
Description of Fig. A represents the upper and lower portions of a 
Plate 25. branch of A. saxatile. Fig. 2 is an enlarged flower 
showing the form of the petals and other organs and their disposition. 
In Fig. 3 two of the petals have been taken away to give a clearer view 
of the interior. Fig. 4 is the orbicular pod with narrow wings, and the 
persistent style. Fig. B shows a division of the stem of A. maritimum, 
and Fig. 1 is an enlargement of one flower. 
BITTER CRESS 
Natural Order Crucifers. Genus Gardamine 
Cardamine (Greek, kardamon, cress). A genus of about fifty annual or 
perennial herbs, natives chiefly of the temperate and colder regions. 
The leaves are generally pinnate; flowers white, creamy or purple. 
Sepals with equal bases; petals clawed. Pods long and narrow, 
compressed, with flat, elastic valves which, when the seeds are ripe, 
spring open from the base and discharge the seeds. The flowers are 
borne in terminal, bractless racemes. 
History The species of Gardamine are not in general cultiva¬ 
tion, though a few of the Continental species were intro¬ 
duced in the seventeenth century. Gardamine trifolia, for instance, was 
brought from Switzerland in 1629, G. latifolia from Spain in 1710, 
G. chelidonia from Italy in 1739, and G. macrophyUa from Siberia in 
1824. G. pratensis is our own native Cuckoo-flower, the Lady’s Smock 
of Shakespeare’s well-known lines. Of this species there is a natural 
double variety occasionally found, as also several varieties with single 
flowers. G. pratensis is plentiful in damp meadows, and swampy places 
on commons. Its flowers are white or pale pink. G. amara, another 
