CRUCIPERAE 213 



1. A. MEXICANA L. 



An erect, rather stout, branched, annual herb 1 m high or less, with 

 yellowish sap. Leaves 5 to 15 cm long, more or less variegated with 

 green and white, glaucous, the base broad, half-clasping the stem, i)ro- 

 mjnently sinuate-lobed, spiny. Flowers terminal, . yellow, 4 to 5 cm in 

 diameter. Capsule spiny, about 3 cm long. (Fl. Filip. pi. 187.) 



Waste places, roadsides etc., fl. most of the year, A native of tropical 

 America, introduced into the Philippines at an early date and now widely 

 distributed; tropics of the world. 



58. CRUCIFERAE (Mustard or Mostaza Family) 



Herbs with watery, often pungent juice. Basal leaves in a rosette, 

 those on the stem alternate, variously toothed or lobed, or entire. Flowers 

 racemose. Sepals 4, free, the two lateral ones often large and saccate at 

 the base. Petals 4, free, imbricate. Stamens usually 6, the two outer 

 opposite the lateral sepals, the 4 inner longer, in opposite pairs. Disk 

 usually with 4 glands opposite the sepals. Ovary 2- or 1-celled; styles 

 short or none; ovules usually many and 2-seriate. Fruit usually a 2-celled, 

 2-valved pod, the valves diciduous and leaving the seeds on the placentas, 

 or indehiscent, or jointed. Seeds small. 



Genera 218, species about 2,000, mostly in the temperate regions of the 

 Old World, 4 genera and about 6 species in the Philippines, mostly in- 

 troduced. 



1. Pods dehiscent. 



2. Seed 2-seriate; cotyledons plane, accumbent 1. Nasturtium 



2. Seeds 1-seriate; cotyledons cbnduplicate 2. Brassica 



1. Pods indehiscent 3. Raphanus 



1. NASTURTIUM R. Brown 



Krect, simple or branched, glabrous or hairy herbs. Leaves entire, lobed 

 or . pinnatifid. Flowers small, yellow, racemose. Sepals short, spreading, 

 equal at the base. Petals short, narrowed below, or wanting. Stamens 



2, 4, or 6. Pod slender, cylindric, short or long. Seeds small, 1-seriate, 

 the cotyledons accumbent. (Latin name of a strongly scented cress, from 

 "nose" and "to twist.") 



Species about 20 in temperate and tropical countries, 1 in the Phil- 

 ippines. 



1. N. INDICUM DC. 



An erect, usually branched nearly glabrous herb 20 to 40 cm high. 

 Leaves oblong, variously lobed and toothed, 5 to 10 cm long, often lyrate, 

 petioled, the upper ones sessile or nearly so. Racemes long, many-flowiered, 

 flowering at the tip. Flowers small, yellow, 2.5 to 3 mm long, the sepals 

 as long as the petals. Pods spreading, slender, cylindric, 1 to 2 cm long. 



Damp ditches along roadsides, etc., fl. all the year, widely distributed in 

 the Philippines, and undoubtedly introduced. India to Japan, southward 



to Malaya. 



2. BRASSICA Linnaeus 



Erect, simple or branched, glabrous or hairy herbs. Leaves large, lyrate 

 or pinnatifid, sometimes entire. Racemes long, many-flowered. Flowers 

 small, yellow. Sepals erect or spreading, the lateral ones usually saccate 

 at the base. Pods slender, dehiscent, cylindric or angular, often with an 



