Hesperis.] VI. CKUCIFEKiE. 33 



VII. HESPERIS. HESPEKIS. 



Coarse, erect herbs, more or less hairy, with toothed leaves, and 

 rather large purple flowers, resembling those of Matthiola. Calyx erect. 

 Petals on long claws. Pods long and linear, nearly cylindrical ; the 

 stigma oblong, erect, and very shortly divided into two parallel lobes. 

 Seeds not winged, apparently in a single row in each cell ; the radicle 

 is incumbent. 



A genus confined to Europe and northern Asia, nearly allied to 

 Matthiola, but with a somewhat different habit, and an incumbent 

 radicle. 



1. H. matronalis, Linn. (fig. 69). Dame's Violet. — Stems 2 to 3 

 feet high, usually slightly branched. Leaves shortly stalked, or taper- 

 ing at the base, ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, 2 to 3 inches long, or the 

 upper ones smaller. Flowers usually fragrant in the evening. Pods 2 

 to 4 inches long, nearly cylindrical, but much contracted between the 

 seeds. 



In hedges, bushy places, and open woods, in central and southern 

 Europe, and all across Russian Asia, and, having been long cultivated 

 in cottage gardens, is frequently met with, apparently wild, further 

 to the north. In Britain only as an escape from gardens. Fl. early 

 summer. 



The Virginia Stock of our gardens, a sea-coast plant of southern 

 Europe, is said to have been found on our own shores near Dover. It 

 belongs to the genus Malcolmia, only differing from Hesperis in the 

 more pointed lobes of the stigma, and the pod slightly thickened 

 at the base. 



VIII. SISYMBRIUM. SISYMBRIUM. 



Annual, or rarely perennial, erect herbs, glabrous, or with spreading 

 hairs ; the flowers small, yellow, or, in some exotic species, white. 

 Pod linear, nearly cylindrical, the lateral nerves of the valves more or 

 less distinct ; the stigma entire, small or capitate, closely sessile on the 

 summit of the ovary. Seeds apparently in a single row, ovoid or oblong, 

 not flattened ; the radicle incumbent. 



A numerous genus, spread over the northern hemisphere, with the 

 yellow flowers and habit of Barbarea and Brassica, but differing essen- 

 tially from both in the position of the radicle. Several species of the 

 three genera are popularly known by the name of Rocket. 

 Leaves deeply pinnatifid. 



Terminal lobe of the leaves broad and very obtuse, much larger 



than the others Barbarea vulgaris. 



Lobes of the leaves lanceolate, the lower ones often curved backwards 

 Pods short, downy, closely pressed against the axis . . 1. S. officinale. 

 Pods long, glabrous, spreading, and often turned to one side 2. S. trio. 

 Leaves twice or thrice pinnate, with numerous small linear seg- 

 ments 3. S. Sophia. 



Besides the above, the S. polyceratium, from continental Europe, is 

 established in the streets of Bury, in Suffolk, and on ballast hills in 

 Fife. It has the foliage of S. Irio, with numerous shorter pods crowded 

 in the axils of the upper leaves. 



1. S. officinale, Scop. (fig. 70). Hedge Mustard. — An erect annual, 

 more or less downy, a foot high or rather more, with very rigid, 

 spreading branches. Leaves deeply pinnatifid, with few lanceolate, 



