SISYMBRIUM. 



Icfs fpreading tha* in moft of the fpecies, its leaves hairy at 

 the tips. Petals veined. — We have been led to doubt whe- 

 thei- Gerard's plant from Provence, defcribed in the fecond 

 edition of Sp. PI. and preferved in the Linnsean herbarium, 

 be the fame with our's ; becaufe -itsjlowers are fmaller, and 

 tlie veins of \.he\T petals fcarcely difccrniblc, though in cur's 

 very llrong. It may neverthelel's be a mere variety. We 

 find in its yowng poih plain indications of the remarkable lan- 

 ceolate beak, half the length of the pod itfelf, fo ilriking 

 in our S. monenfe, and figured, as well as defcribed, in 

 Englifh Botany. WiUdenow was mifled by Villars to con- 

 fider Gerard's as the fame with the following. 



S. repandum. Wavy-leaved Wild-rocket. Willd. n. 19. 

 (S. monenfe ; Villars Uauph. v. 3. 350. t. 39, the fynonyms 

 mo!lly, if not entirely, wrong.) — Pods nearly ereit, com- 

 prefFed, uneven, with a fhort quadrangular beak. Leaves with 

 wavy teeth, fmooth. Stems fimple, fmooth, quite naked. — 

 Native of the mountains of Dauphiny ; our Ipecinien is from 

 Villars himfelf, and prove?, uotwithilanding his aflertion, very 

 diltinft from the plant of Gerard, mentioned under our pre- 

 ceding fpecies, as well as from Britiih fpecimensof that fpecies. 

 We have no means of knowing exactly how far the author 

 is correft in Tournefort's fynonym ; but the phrafe radice 

 cnifd anfwers admirably to Gerard's fpecimen, and not to 

 that of Villars. The root of the latter is long and tapering, 

 divided, but not very thick, at the crown, where it bears fe- 

 veral fimple tufts of ilalked, oblong, or obovate, bluntifh 

 leaves, about an inch only in length, always quite Imooth ; 

 their margins either wavy, or more or lefs deeply toothed. 

 Stems folitary, four or five inches high, quite leaflefs, fimple, 

 round and fmooth, each bearing from four to nine large co- 

 rymho^e Jlo'wers, of a fine yellow. Calyx fmooth, fiightly 

 fpreading, a little coloured. Pods fiightly fpreading, ra- 

 ther longer than the lall as to their valvular part, meafuring 

 from one and a half to two inches ; but the beak is hardly 

 two lines, inflead of three-quarters of an inch, long, by 

 which the plants are clearly diltinguilhed. Willdenow 

 rightly defcribes the valves of the prefent, which are un- 

 equally bunched out by the Jl-eds, as marked with an elevated 

 line, that makes them feem quadrangular ; but they are 

 mucii lefs really fo than in S. monenfe, whofe pods few bo- 

 taniils appear to have feen. 



S. vtmlneum. Rufliy-ilalked Wild- rocket. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 919. Willd. n. 21. (Eruca pamila, burfce pallons 

 folio ; Bocc. Sic. 19. t. 10. f. 2. E. minimo florc, monf- 

 pelienfis ; Eauh. Hill. v. 2. S62 ; the leaves, as the author 

 obferves, too fliarp.) — Pods ereft, comprefled, with a fliort 

 quadrangular beak. Stems widely fpreading, leafy at the 

 bafe. Leaves fmooth, obovate ; toothed or pinnatifid. 

 Petals ertdl, fcarcely exceeding the calyx. — Native of Si- 

 cily and the fouth of France. A hardy annual, which we 

 have had for near twenty years, fpringing up fpontaneoudy, 

 in a garden, fo that it merits a place in Mr. Aiton's v.-ork, 

 though of no attraftive afpeft, to procure it general notice. 

 The root is fmall and fibrous. Stems feveral, branching at 

 the very bafe only, from three to eight inches long, widely 

 fpreading or decumbent, limply racemofe, round, flender, 

 fmooth. Leaves numerous, about the bottom of each 

 ttctn, Italiced, from one to tv/o or three inches long, very 

 obtufe ; either fimply obovate, entire, and partly wavy, or 

 piimatifid in a lyrate manner, fometimes rather deeply. 

 Flonuers extremely fmall, with a tawny and purplith tinge, 

 fucceeded by a long duller of diltant pods, hardly an inch 

 long, fmooth, (lightly unequal in their furface, each valve 

 marked with a flender elevated line. This fpecies, though 

 very diftinft, is fo much akin to the lalt, that their charac 

 tcrs are difficult to define^ The calyx and corolla of the 



prefent hardly anfwer indeed to the idea of a Sifymbr'tum,h\it 

 rather to that of jirabis. 



Seft. 4. Leaves pinnate, or deeply pinnatifid. Twenty 

 fpecies. 



S. Sophia. Flix-weed. Linn. Sp. PI. 920. Willd. 

 n. 29. Fl. Brit, n. 7. Engl. Bot. t. 963. Mart. Ruft. 

 t. 57. FL Dan. t. 528. Purih n. 4. (Sophia chirur- 

 gorum ; Ger. Em. 1068. Lob. Ic. 738.) — Leaves doubly 

 pinnate, with decurrent fegments, a little hairy. Petals 

 fmaller than the calyx — Native of watle ground, rubbini, 

 and banks throughout Europe, from Sweden to Greece, 

 flowering in fummer. Mr. Purfii fpeaks of it as occurring 

 by road-fides in Virginia, but rarely. We prefume the feedj 

 may have been imported from England. The root is annual. 

 Stem about two feet high, creft, copioufly clothed with J 

 finely divided fpreading leaves, whofe ultimate divifions are ' 

 rather pinnatifid than pinnate. Floiuers pale yellow, very 

 fmall and inccnfpicuous, denfely corymbofe, fucceeded by 

 long cliiflers of flender, upright, torulofe pods, on flender, 

 fpreading, partial llalks, their valves feparating and fpread- 

 ing from the bafe, fomewhat like a Cardamine. The herb 

 has been thought ufeful in fluxes. 



S. millefolium. Mill-foil-leaved Wild-rocket. Willd. 

 n. 28. Ait. n. 14. (Sinapis millefolia ; Jacq. Coll. v. I. 

 41. Ic. Rar. t. 127.) — Leaves triply pinnate, downy and 

 hoary. Petals larger than the calyx. — Native of the Ca- 

 nary idands, from whence Mr. Maiion brought it in 1779* 

 This IS a perennial, flirubby, greenhoufe plant, flovi'ering 

 from May to September. Though like the lall in general 

 aipeft, the leaves are more compound and hoary, with 

 ufually more rounded fegments or leaflets; and the^oo'cr/ 

 are much more confpicuous, on account of their fpreading 

 ■YeWow petals, double the lengtli of the calyx. 



S. Irio. London Wild-rocket. Linn. Sp. PI. 921. 

 Willd. n. 36. Fl. Brit. n. 8. Engl. Bot. t. 1631. Curt. 

 Lond. falc. 5. t. 48. Jacq. Aullr. t. 322. (Eryfimum 

 latifolium majus glabrum ; Bauh. Pin. loi. Monf. feft. 3. 

 t. 3. f. 3, at the bottom. Lio Isevis apulus, erucs folio; 

 Column. Ecphr. 264. t. 265.) — Leaves runcinate, toothed, 

 naked. Stem fmooth. Pods ered, very long, thread- 

 fliaped. — Native of cultivated ground throughout Europe. 

 Very common about London, where it was fuppofed by the 

 fapient advocates of fpontaneous generation, to have been 

 generated in confequence of the great fire, in 1666. If, 

 therefore, we confide in the bold aflertion on the Monument, 

 or the infcription on the fat boy at Pye-corner, this plant 

 ought to be a cure for popery, or " the fin of gluttony," or 

 for both. However this n-iay be, the root is annual, the 

 whole herb, except the upper Jlou'crflalis and calyx occa- 

 fionally, is invariably fmooth, with an acrid flavour, like 

 muilard. Ste?n ereft, about two feet high, round, leafy, 

 flightly zigzag, molUy branched. Leaves none of them 

 truly pinnate, but deeply pinnatifid, with fpreading or re- 

 flexed oblong lobes, moft: toothed at their upper or fore 

 edge. Flowers corymbofe, numerous, fmall, yellow ; their 

 petals fpreading, longer than the calyx. Pods an inch and a 

 half long, very flender, on partial ftalks, about a quarter 

 of an inch in length, all together compofing a long lax 

 clufler. Stigma feflile. 



S. Loefclii. Loefel's Wild-rocket. Lirin. Sp. PI. 921. 

 Willd. n. 38. Jacq. Auftr. t. 324. (Turritis Loefelii ; 

 Br. in Alt. Hort. Kew. v. 4. 109. Eryfimum hirlutum, 

 filiquis enicx ; Loef. Prufl. 69. t. 14. Rapiilrum mon- 

 tanum, irionis folio, macroleptoceraton ; Column. Ecphr. 

 266. t. 268.) — Leaves runcinate, toothed, hairy. Stem 

 rough with defiexed brilUes. Pods ereCl, thread- fliaped, 

 on long fpreading llalks. — Native of Pruffia, Auftria, 



France, 



