152 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



But little description of our plant will be needed, as our 

 illustration indicates the more salient points. The leaves, 

 it will be seen, are like those of the Indian cress of the 

 gardens (the plant ordinarily called' the nasturtium in seeds- 

 men's catalogues), as the stalk is often united to them near 

 the centre of their under surface. This type is termed 

 botanically peltate or shield-like. The leaves mostly spring 

 direct from the root; their thick and fleshy texture 

 prevents the veining becoming as conspicuous as in most 

 other plants, and each leaf is slightly concave, having 

 a more or less deeply-marked depression in the centre. 

 This feature suggests the generic name Cotyledon, a term 

 derived from the Greek word for cup. The flowering stems 

 are from six inches to a foot high, and bear a long raceme 

 of pendulous flowers. The calyx is small and five-cleft. 

 the corolla bell-shaped and having five small teeth at 

 what we may term the rim of the bell. The plant is a 

 perennial, and flowers during June, July, and August. 



