46 THE CEUCIFEE FAMILY. [Lepidiurn, 



Pods winged at the top. 

 Tall annual with a single stem. Style short . . . . 1. L. campestre. 

 Perennial, branching at the base. Style longer than the notch 



of the pod 2. L. Smithii. . 



Pod not winged. 

 Stern stout and erect. Leaves oblong or broadly lanceolate. 

 Upper leaves auricled and clasping the stem. Pod 2 lines 



broad 3. L. Draba. 



Upper leaves narrowed at the base. Pod 1 line broad . . 4. L. latifolium. 

 Stem much branched and wiry. Leaves linear or pinnate . . 5. L. ruderale. 



The common Cress of our gardens is the L. sativum, a native of west 

 central Asia. 



1. L. campestre, Br. (fig. 103). Mithridate Pepperwort. — An annual 

 or biennial, nearly a foot high, more or less hoary with minute scaly 

 hairs, or rarely quite glabrous ; the stem solitary, erect or nearly 

 so, usually branched in the upper part. Radical leaves stalked, ob- 

 long, entire or pinnatifid, with a large terminal lobe ; the upper ones 

 oblong or lanceolate, entire or slightly toothed, clasping the stem 

 with short, pointed auricles. Flowers very small. Anthers yellow. 

 Pods numerous, on spreading pedicels, broadly ovate, thick when 

 ripe, nearly surrounded by the wing, which is narrow at jthe base, but 

 broad and slightly notched at the top, with a short, often very minute 

 style. 



In hilly pastures, cultivated and waste places, over the greater part 

 of Europe, from Sweden to the Caucasus. Generally distributed over 

 England, Ireland, and southern Scotland. Fl. summer. 



2. L. Smithii, Hook. (fig. 104). Smith's 0. — Very near L. campestre, 

 but forms a more or less perennial stock. The stems are several 

 together, much shorter, and decumbent at the base ; the foliage more 

 hairy, the flowers rather larger, the anthers violet, and the pod glabrous. 



In hilly pastures, cultivated and waste places in western Europe, 

 from Spain and Portugal, up western France, to England, Ireland, and 

 southern Scotland. Fl. spring and autumn. It should perhaps be 

 united as a mere variety with the L. hirtum from south-western Europe, 

 which is hairy all over, including the pods, and the L, heterophyllum 

 from western Europe, which is glabrous all over. 



3. L. Draba, Linn. (fig. 105). Hoary C. — A perennial about afoot 

 high, more or less hoary with a minute down. Stems stout and erect, 

 branching above. Leaves oblong or broadly lanceolate, usually slightly 

 toothed, 1J to 2 inches long, the lower one stalked, the upper ones 

 clasping the stem with projecting auricles. Eacemes not much 

 lengthened, forming a broad flat corymb. Pods about 2 lines broad 

 and not quite so long, very thick, the valves sharply keeled, but not 

 winged, the style prominent. 



In waste places, by roadsides, &c. ; common in central and southern 

 Europe, and temperate Eussian Asia. Eare in Britain, and only as an 

 introduced plant in a few English counties. Fl. spring or early summer, 



4. L. latifolium, Linn. (fig. 106). Dittander. — A stout, erect 

 perennial, attaining 2 feet or more in height, of a pale green, but 

 glabrous. Stems much branched above, but forming a large loose 

 panicle, not a flat corymb as in L. Draba. Eadical leaves large, ovate, 

 toothed, on long stalks ; stem-leaves oblong or broadly lanceolate, 2 or 

 3 inches long, the lower ones stalked and mostly toothed, the upper 



