SEA CABBAGE 



Flowers. — White, lilac, pink, or purple crucifers borne on loosely 

 flowered terminal racemes, fragrant at night with the odor of violets. 

 Siliques. — Long, slender, contracted between the seeds. 



Hesperis matronalis has been long in culti- 

 vation. Its native land is southern Europe and 

 western Asia, but it has escaped from gardens 

 and grows wild iii many parts of England. 

 The early English gardeners record that its 



. 1 1 1 1 . f ^ p Flower of Sweet 



fragrance was such that ladies were fond of Rocket. Life size 

 having it in their apartments; hence the name 

 Dame's Violet. The colors range from white, through lilac and 

 pink to purple. The flower doubles readily and the double forms 

 are popular; in general appearance it resembles the stocks. 



SEA CABBAGE. WILD CABBAGE 



Brdssica oleracea. 



Brassica, the Latin name of the cabbage. 



A biennial plant growing wild on the sea-cliffs of western and southern 

 Europe; the original stock from which has sprung all forms of cabbages, 

 cauliflowers, Brussels sprouts, and kales. 



Root. — Tough and woody, habit of plant diffuse. 

 Leaves. — Large, thick, deeply lobed; in various tints of green, flushed 

 with red, more or less glaucous. 



Flowering stem. — Tall and branching; flowers yellow. 

 Siliques. — Long, pointed. 



We possess in the Wild Cabbage a most interesting example of 

 the existence of a primitive side by side with the developed and 

 cultivated forms. As a rule our domestic plants have varied so 

 far from their wild forebears, both in time and in environment, 

 that the search for the original is a hopeless quest; it has either 

 disappeared or is so different as not to be recognized. 



Anne Pratt, in "The Flowering Plants of Great Britain," says: 

 "Few plants are more conspicuous on the sea-cliffs of England 

 than this cabbage; from May till the end of summer it is one of 



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