82 



THE CRUCIFER FAMILY. 



and temperate .Russian Asia. Eare in Britain, and only as an intro- 

 duced weed in a few English counties. Fl. spring or early summer. 



Broad-leaved Cress. Lepidium latifolium, Linn. 

 (Fig. 104.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 182.) 



A stout, erect perennial, attaining 2 

 feet or even more in height, of a pale 

 green, but glabrous. Stems much 

 branched in the upper part, but forming 

 a large loose panicle, not a flat corymb 

 as in the hoary C. Radical 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 sessile, 

 but tapering at the base, and often en- 

 tire. Pods about 1 line long and broad, 

 the valves scarcely keeled and not 

 winged, the style almost imperceptible. 



In waste places, especially near the 

 sea, widely distributed over central and 

 southern Europe and temperate Russian 

 Asia, extending northwards to Sweden. 

 In Britain, apparently indigenous near 

 the coasts of some of the eastern coun- 

 ties of England, appearing occasionally also in some other localities. 

 Fl. summer. 



Fig. 104. 



5. Narrow-leaved Cress. Lepidium ruderale, Linn. 

 (Fig. 105.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 1595.) 



A glabrous annual, 6 inches to a foot high, with very much branched 

 wiry stems. The radical and lower leaves pinnatifid, with narrow 

 lobes ; the upper ones entire or nearly so, and linear. Flowers very 

 minute, generally without petals, and only 2 stamens. Pods small, 

 nearly orbicular ; the valves keeled or sometimes very slightly winged 

 at the top ; the style very minute. 



In dry gravelly soils, waste places, on rubbish and old walls, chiefly 



