CRUCIFEILE. 33 



Podophyllum. L. 12. 1. 



P. peltatum. L. May Apple, or Mandrake. Stem a foot 

 high, dividing into 2 large and lobed peltate leaves, with one 

 flower from the fork of leaves ; the fruit becomes large, juicy, 

 pleasantly acid, and is often eaten ; spread over much of the 

 State, but less abundant than in the States west and south. 

 Flowers large and white ; May or June ; grows in rather damp 

 woods, not in marshes. Medicinal ; Bigelow's " Medical Botany." 



A gentleman left Georgia in the last of March, when this plant 

 was in flower, and as he travelled leisurely northwards, found this 

 plant in flower in all his tour ; when he reached the western part 

 'of our State, on the last of May, it had just begun to show 

 its blossoms. The genus is named from the Greek for foot and 

 leaf from the form of the leaf and its foot-stalk. 



ORDER 9. CRUCIFER.E. 



Sepals and petals 4, alternating, and each cruciform, or in 

 opposite pairs ; stamens 6, one pair opposite and shorter, the 

 4 longer in 2 opposite pairs ; ovarium superior ; stigmas 2, united 

 as one ; fruit a short or long silique or pod ; leaves alternate ; 

 flowers generally yellow ; herbaceous. 



Plants of this order abound in the temperate zone of Europe ; 

 they are relatively few in North America, and fewer still in the 

 New England States. 



The properties are stimulant and antiscorbutic ; in some there 

 is considerable acridness in different parts of the plant ; some 

 are healthful and nutritious as food. The order is named from 

 the position of the parts of the flowers opposite each other, so 

 as to form a cross, in Latin crux. 



Sinapis. L. 13. 2. 

 S. nigra. Sm. The common Mustard. This was introduced, 

 and is naturalized in many places. The culture of the plant for its 

 seed is said to be very profitable. As a vegetable for greens, in its 

 young state, it is highly esteemed, and would be thought far pref- 

 erable to Spinach, if it were equally well known. The seeds 

 have various medicinal uses. 

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