Alyssum.] III. crucifebae. 29 



*A. maritimum, Lam., Encyc. i. 98. Suberect or decumbent, often woody 

 below, spreading, pubescent or nearly glabrous. Leaves linear-lanceolate, acute. 

 Flowers on spreading pedicels, white, fragrant. Pods orbicular, flattened, 2-seeded. 



NOETH and SOUTH Islands : Naturalised in places near the sea. Bay of Islands, A. Cun- 

 ningham! Especially abundant on cliffs at New Plymouth. Sweet alyssum. Nov. to Feb. 

 South Europe. 



» EROPHILA, DC. 

 Small annuals with entire spreading radical leaves. Flowers few. Sepals 

 equal. Petals obovate, 2-fid. Pod oblong, compressed ; valves membranous, flat 

 or conve:x. Seeds 2-seriate. 



*E. vulgaris, DC, Syst. Veg. ii. 356. Leaves all radical, lanceolate, spreading. 

 Scapes filiform, lin.-3in. high, naked, 2-5-flowered. Pods on spreading capillary 

 pedicels, obovate-oblong, more than twice as long as broad. 



SOUTH Island : Naturalised in several parts of Otago ; Balclutha, Sowburn, Lake Wakatipu, 

 Fetrie ! Whitlow-grass. Oct., Nov. Europe. 



* COCHLEARIA, Tourn. 



Sepals short, equal or nearly so, spreading. Petals shortly clawed. Stamens 

 tetradynamous. Pods oblong or globose, sessile or shortly stalked ; valves turgid, 

 with or without a dorsal nerve. Seeds 2-seriate. Perennial herbs, often littoral. 



* C. Armcracia, L., Sp. PL 648. Eootstock long, thick; cylindrical, fleshy, 

 often branched at the top. Eadical leaves oblong or linear-oblong, 1ft. long or more 

 on long petioles, unequal at the base, crenate-serrate ; cauline leaves narrower, 

 smaller, usually sessile. Flowers small. Pod ovoid. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands : Naturalised on the sites of deserted homesteads, railway- 

 banks, waste places, &a. I have not seen ripe pods produced in the colony, and the flowers are 

 comparatively rare. Horse-radish. Europe. 



*HESPERIS, Linn. 



Sepals erect, the lateral gibbous at the base. Pod elongate, terete or obscurely 

 4-angled ; valves 3-nerved. Stigma lobed, erect. Seeds in one row in each cell, 

 numerous. Cotyledon incumbent. Erect biennial or perennial herbs. 



* H. matronalis, L., Sp. PL 663. Erect, branched, lft.-3ft. high. Leaves 

 usually petiolate, lanceolate, acuminate, serrate. Flowers in terminal racemes, 

 large,' purple ; pedicels Jin.-lin. long, ascending. Pods 2in.-4in. long, slender, terete, 

 irregularly contracted. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands: Naturalised in several localities, chiefly on the sites of 

 deserted gardens. Ohiro, T. K. Oamaru, Fetrie ! Dame's rocket. Nov., Deo. Europe. 



• MALCOLMIA, R. Br. 



Sepals erect, linear, the lateral slightly saccate. Petals unguiculate. Stamens 

 tetradynamous. Stigma conical. Pod subterete. Seeds 1-seriate. Fruiting pedi- 

 cels shorter than the pod. "Weak annual herbs. 



='= M. maritima, B. Br. in Hort. Keiv., ed. 2, iv. 121. A much-branched 

 pubescent annual. Stems weak, suberect or decumbent. Leaves on slender petioles, 

 elliptical or rarely obovate, narrowed below. Flowers in short terminal racemes. 

 Pod lin. long, subterete. 



NORTH Island : Sparingly naturalised in several localities, but not common. Plentiful on 

 r?i.ilway-banks near Plimmerton. Virginian stock. Sept. to June. South Europe, &c. 



