_ Hesperis. | VI. CRUCIFERA. 33 
VII. HESPERIS. HESPERIS. 
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 incumbent on the back. 
of one of the cotyledons. 
A genus, confined to Europe and northern Asia, nearly allied to Mat- 
thiola, but with a somewhat different habit, and the radicle incumbent, not 
accumbent. 
1, H. matronalis, Linn. (fig. 68). Common Hesperis, Dame’s Violet. 
—Stems 2 to 3 feet high, usually slightly branched. Leaves shortly 
stalked, or tapering 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 outcast from gardens. 7. early summer. 
The Virginia Stock of our gardens, a seacoast 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. 
Sees coe 
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 dis- 
tinct; the stigma entire, small or capitate, closely sessile on the summit of 
the valves. Seeds apparently in a single row, ovoid or oblong, not flat- 
tened ; the radicle incumbent on the back of one of the cotyledons. 
A numerous genus, spread over the northern hemisphere, with the yellow 
flowers and habit of Barbarea and Brassica, but differing essentially 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 asian 
Pods short, downy, closely pressed against the axis . 1. S. officinale, 
Pods long, glabrous, spreading, and often turned to one side 2, 8. Lrio. 
Leaves twice or thrice age Pee numerous small linear seg- 
ments . - : - : . 3. S. Sophia. 
Besides the above, the 8. 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. Jrio, with numerous shorter pods crowded in the axils 
of the upper leaves, 
1, S. officinale, Scop. (fig. 69). Common Sisymbrium, Hedge Mus- 
stard,—An erect annual, more or less downy, a foot high or rather more, 
with very rigid, spreading branches. Leaves deeply pinnatifid, with few 
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