52 



THE CRUCIFER FAMILY. 



ing only a few simple hairs ; the leaves pinnate, or, if undivided, on 

 long stalks ; the flowers white or pink. Stigma capitate, or small. Pod 

 narrow-linear; the valves flat, without any conspicuous midrib, and 

 usually opening with elasticity. Seeds apparently in a single row in 

 each ceil ; radicle accumbent on the edge of the cotyledons. 



A large and natural genus, widely spread over the temperate and 

 colder regions of both the northern and southern hemispheres. The 

 white flowers and pinnate leaves distinguish it from all British Cru- 

 cifers, except the common Watercress and the Toothcress, both of which 

 differ in their pods. 



Petals large, obovate or oblong, spreading. 



Stem weak. Segments of the stem-leaves broad. 

 Rootstocks slender, with creeping offsets. All 



the leaves pinnate 1. Bitter B. 



Rootstock thick and knotted. Upper leaves nearly 



entire, often with a bulb in their axil . Bulbiferous Toothcress. 

 Stem stiff and erect. Segments of the stem-leaves 



narrow . . 2. Meadow B. 



Petals small, nearly erect. 



Stem tall and erect. Leafstalk with stipule-like 



appendages at the base 3. Narrow-leaved B. 



Stem low and weak, or much branched. No sti- 



pular appendages 4. Hairy B. 



1. Large Bitter cress. Cardamine amara, Linn. (Fig. 62.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 1000.) 



Rootstock slender, with creeping off- 

 sets. Stem a foot high or more, weak 

 and ascending, or nearly erect. Leaves 

 pinnate, with 5 or 7 distinct segments, 

 all ovate or orbicular, irregularly angled 

 or toothed, the terminal one often an 

 inch long. Racemes few-flowered. Petals 

 nearly as large as in the meadow B., 

 slightly spreading, of a pure white. Pod 

 about an inch long. 



In wet meadows, and along brooks 

 and streams, generally distributed over 

 Europe and Russian Asia, except the 

 extreme north, becoming a mountain 

 plant in the south. Widely spread over 

 Britain, but not a common or frequent 

 Fl. spring and early summer. 



Fig. 62. 



plant. 



