sad 
50 THE CRUCIFER FAMILY. 
Ireland, and southern Scotland, has been distinguished as &. maritimus, 
Sm. It has the leaves usually more divided, the pods often longer, 
and is more apt to last a second year, but all the other characters 
derived from the colour of the flower, the comparative length of the 
style and pod, the depth of the furrows, &c., occur also on inland 
specimens, at least on the Continent. [2. maritimus, Sm., is confined 
to the sea-coast, and no doubt indigenous; &. Raphanistrum i is a corn- 
field plant, the origin of which is doubtful. 1 
VII. RESEDACEA. THE MIGNONETTE FAMILY. 
A small family, limited in Britain to the single genus © 
Reseda. The exotic genera, of very few species each, asso- 
ciated with it, originally formed part of it, but have been 
separated on account chiefly of the slight differences in the 
structure of the fruit. 
I. RESEDA. MIGNONETTE. 
Herbs, either annual or with a short perennial stock, alternate leaves, 
no stipules, and small greenish-yellow or white flowers, in long terminal 
racemes or spikes. Sepals 4 to 6. Petals as many, small, narrow, and 
some or all of them deeply divided. Stamens indefinite, but not 
numerous (about 8 to 24), inserted under the ovary on a glandular disk. 
Ovary single, with short teeth, each terminating in a very short style or 
sessile stigma. Capsule green, open at the top long before maturity, 
containing several seeds, arranged along as many parietal placentas as 
there were styles. Seeds without albumen. 
The species are rather numerous, and chiefly confined to Europe, 
northern Africa, and western Asia. ‘The narrow, insignificant, divided 
petals, and open capsule, are sufficient to distinguish them from all 
other British plants. | 
Leaves entire . : : : : : ; .- Ll. BR, luteola. 
Leaves cut or divided. 
Petals white, all divided. Leaves pinnate, with many entire seg- 
ments . 38 R. alba. 
Petals ereenish- yellow, one or two of them undivided. Leaves 
trifid or pinnate, with few segments, often again divided . 2 R. lutea. 
The sweet Mignonette of our gardens (R. odorata) is a native of Egypt, 
nearly allied to #. lutea. 
1. R. luteola, Linn. (fig. 114). Weld, Yellow Weed, or Dyer’s Rocket. 
—An erect glabrous annual or biennial, with a hard, stiff, scarcely 
branched stem, 1 to 2 feet high. Leaves linear or lanceolate, 2 to 3 
inches long, entire, but slightly waved on the edges. Flowers of a 
yellowish green, in long stiff spikes. Sepals 4. Petals 4 or 5, very 
unequal, the 1 or 2 lower ones entire, the upper ones divided into 2 to 
5 lobes. Capsules nearly globular, with 3 or sometimes 4 teeth, and 
twice as many external furrows. 
In waste places, throughout temperate and southern Europe, from 
Sweden to the Caucasus. Extends over the greater part of Britain, 
but decreases northward, although found occasionally as far as Ross- 
shire, Long cultivated for the use of dyers, it may not improbably be 
