CRUCIFER^ 8s 



without appendages. Pod orbicular or oval, laterally flattened, 

 notched at the top, the valves boat-shaped, the keel or midrib 

 expanded into a wing. One seed only in each cell. 



About 20 species inhabiting Southern Europe, Asia Minor, and 

 Algeria, of which several are cultivated under the name of Candy- 

 tufts, and all readily known by the unequal petals. 



Iberis sempervirens L. 



Stem 5-10 inches, woody and twisted at the base, diffuse, trailing. 

 Flowering-stems glabrous. Leaves smooth, linear, oblong, obtuse, 

 entire, ciliated, numerous, and close together. Flowers white, 

 rather large. Sepals whitish at the borders. Filaments violet at 

 the top. Fruiting panicle rather loose, with spreading pedicels. 

 Sihcules large, oved, broadly winged, each lobe pointed. Style 

 passing beyond the lobes. 



Rocks and stony places in the mountains. June to August. 



Distribution. — Pyrenees, Corbi^res, Basses- Alpes ; Southern 

 Europe from Portugal to Greece ; Asia Minor. 



This is the commonest perennial Candytuft. Being half -shrubby, 

 dwarf, and evergreen it is a useful edging for beds or shrubberies, for 

 on any soil it quickly forms low masses of dark green foliage, which 

 in April and May in England change into sheets of white. It loves 

 the sun, and can be increased by seed or from cuttings. 



Iberis saxatilis L. 



Stems 3-8 inches high, woody and iwisted at the base. Leaves 

 entire, linear, alternate, rather fleshy, the upper ones pointed or 

 mucronate, the lower ones obtuse, glabrous or ciliate, numerous, 

 and close together. Flowers white, rather large. Sepals coloured 

 at the edges. Filaments white. Sihcules large, oval or oboval, 

 slightly notched, broadly winged. Style short. 



Rocks and limestone hiUs. May to July. 



Distribution. — Jura, very rare in Switzerland, Dauphiny, 

 Provence, Cevennes, Corbi^res, Spain, Italy, Taurus. 



This species differs from the last, which it closely resembles, in 

 having pubescent flowering stems, almost linear leaves, silicules 

 more openly emarginate and the two lobes are rounded at the top, 

 and the style is shorter. 



Iberis Candolleana Jord. 



Biennial, glabrous. Stems 2-6 inches high, simple, leafy to the 

 top. Leaves fleshy, not ciliated, entire, the radical leaves oboval, 

 the stem-leaves spathulate, oblong or linear-oblong. Flowers 

 purple-lilac, rather large. Fruiting-head in a tight corymb, with 

 short, thick pedicels. Silicules large, oval, with rounded base, 

 obtusely notched, with short, pointed lobes, and a style longer than 

 the lobes. 



