44 



CRUCfFERvE 



2. S. officinale (Common Hedge-mustard). — Stem i — 2 feet 

 high, rough ; branches horizontal ; leaves hairy, deeply lobed, with 

 the points turned backward (runcinate), the terminal lobe large ; 

 flowers small, yellow ; pods downy, closely pressed to the stem, 

 subulate. — It grows in waste places and by roadsides, where it 

 seems to have a peculiar aptitude for collecting and retaining 

 dust. — Fl. June, July. Annual. 



3. S. Sophia (Flixweed). — Downy ; stem slender, erect, 

 branched ; leaves twice pinnatifid, segments narrow, linear ; flowers 



small, greenish yellow ; petals 

 shorter than the calyx ; pods terete, 

 narrow, constricted between the 

 numerous seeds. — Waste places; 

 not uncommon. — Fl. June — 

 August. Annual. By the old 

 herbalists it was called Sophia 

 chirurgbrum, "Wisdom of sur- 

 geons," from its use in healing 

 wounds. 



4. S. Irio (London Rocket). — 

 Glabrous ; stem erect, branched ; 

 leaves runcinate, dentate ; flcnvers 

 small, yellow ; pods narrow, linear, 

 four times as long as their stalks. 

 — A leafy plant about 2 feet high, 

 occurring in waste ground near 

 old towns, but rare. It is known 

 as London Rocket because it 

 covered the ground in the spring 

 -Fl. July, August. Annual. 

 Two other species are naturalised, S. polycerdtium ; a prostrate 

 form with flowers and. pods in threes in the axils of bracts, growing 

 near Bury St. Edmunds ; and S. altissimum, near Crosby, 

 Lancashire, and in and near London, with runcinate leaves, 

 spreading sepals, and. pedicels nearly as thick as the pods. 



10. Alliaria (Garlic-Mustard). — Annual and biennial herbs, 

 glabrous or with a few simple hairs ; leaves stalked ; flowers white ; 

 corymbose ; pods long, 4-angled ; seeds 1 -seriate, striate, on 

 flattened, winged funicles. (Name from the Latin allium, garlic.) 



1. A. officinalis (Garlic-Mustard, Jack-by-the-Hedge, or Sauce- 

 alone). — Stem erect, slightly branched, 1 — 2 feet high 3 leaves 

 broadly heart-shaped, coarsely toothed, with prominent veins ; 

 flowers \ in. across ; pods z\ in. long. — Hedge-rows ; common. — 



SISYMBRIUM OFFICINALIS 



{Common Hedge-mustard). 



after the Great Fire of 1666. 



