218 THE VALERIAN FAMILY. [Valerianella. 



cymes at the end of the branches or solitary in the forks. Calyx 

 border small, entire or toothed, sometimes enlarging as the fruit 

 ripens, but not feathery. Corolla with a short tube, not spurred at the 

 base, and 5 equal, spreading lobes. Fruit small, convex on the back, 

 but often marked in front with 2 longitudinal ribs or variously shaped 

 projections, which are in fact either imperfect or abortive empty cells. 

 The species are rather numerous, all much alike in general appear- 

 ance, and distinguished chiefly by modifications in the form of the 

 little fruits which appear to be constant. They are chiefly natives of 

 the Mediterranean and Caucasian regions, but some are spread as 

 weeds of cultivation over the greater part of the temperate regions 

 of the northern hemisphere. 



Fruit without any perceptible projecting border on the top. 

 Fruit as broad as long, somewhat laterally compressed, with a 



slight furrow on each side 1. V. olitoria. 



Fruit ovoid, convex on the back, with an oval, concave, or cup- 

 shaped appendage on the face 2. V. carinata. 



Fruit crowned by the small, oblique, tooth-like border of the calyx. 

 Fruit narrow, rather flattened, convex on the back, with 2 longi- 

 tudinal ribs on the face 4. V. dentata. 



Fruit broadly ovoid, showing when cut across 3 cells, 1 with 



a seed in it, and 2 conspicuous empty ones . . . . 3. V. auricula. 



1. V. olitoria, Poll. (fig. 488). Comsalad, Lamb* s-lettuce. — A glabrous 

 or slightly downy annual, seldom above 6 inches high, erect or ascend- 

 ing, branching from the base, and repeatedly forked. Eadical leaves in 

 a spreading tuft, oblong, 1J to 2 inches long, rounded at the top, entire 

 or with a very few coarse teeth, narrowed at the base ; stem-leaves 

 narrower, but with a broad base, often clasping the stem, and more 

 frequently toothed. Flowers very small, mostly in little, dense, terminal 

 cymes, J to \ inch in diameter, surrounded by small lanceolate or linear 

 bracts. Fruit about a line long and at least as broad, somewhat com- 

 pressed, without any perceptible calycine border, and marked on each 

 side with a longitudinal furrow. When cut across, the seed is seen in 

 the centre, with a corky mass on one side, and an empty cell on the 

 other. 



A native of southern Europe, often cultivated for salad, and now a 

 common weed in waste places and cornfields in central Europe. Not 

 unfrequent in various parts of the British Isles. Fl. spring and summer. 



2. V. carinata, Lois. (fig. 489). Keeled G. — Closely resembles V. 

 olitoria in everything but the fruit, which is ovoid, not compressed 

 laterally, but rather from front to back, without any corky mass at the 

 back of the seed, and the empty cell in front is not closed in, but open, 

 in the shape of a little cup-shaped appendage. 



More abundant than V. olitoria in most parts of continental Europe, 

 but much less frequent in England. I have not met with it in cultiva- 

 tion, although so similar in foliage. Fl. spring and summer. 



3. V. Auricula, DC. (fig. 490). Sharp-fruited O. — Stems generally 

 more erect than in the last two species, the branches not proceeding 

 from so near the base, more slender and wiry ; the leaves small and 

 narrow, the cymes small and not so compact, often with single flowers 

 in the forks of the stem, and the bracts small and narrow. Fruit 

 broadly ovoid, scarcely compressed, crowned by the little green oblique 



