SCURVY-GRASS 



647 



a strong acrid taste and a very tarry flavour. The seed is sown 

 where the plants are to stand, and, if possible, in a cool, shady 

 position. Scurvy-grass requires no special attention. The leaves 

 are sometimes eaten as salad, but the plant is more usually grown 

 for medicinal purposes, its anti-scorbutic properties being well 

 known. 



SEA-KALE 



Crambe maritima^ L. Cruciferce. 



French^ Crambe. German^ Metx-oder See- Kohl. Flemish and Dutch^ Zeekool. 

 Danish, Strand-kaal. Spanish^ Soldanela maritima. 



Native of Europe. — Perennial. — Leaves broad, thick, fringed, 

 often twisted and cut at the edges into rounded segments, and a 

 very peculiar glaucous 

 green, almost the same on 

 both sides of the leaf ; 

 stems stout, branching, 

 from 20 in. to 2 ft. high ; 

 flowers very numerous, 

 white, and broad, suc- 

 ceeded by seed-vessels 

 which are almost spherical, 

 a little less than | in. in 

 diameter, white, rather 

 hard, never opening when 

 ripe, and each containing 

 only a single seed. The 

 germinating power of the 

 seed declines rapidly after 

 the first year. 



The Sea-kale, which 

 is found in the wild state 

 on most of the sea coasts 

 of Western Europe, is very 

 little used as a vegetable 

 in France, although it has 

 been for many years extensively cultivated in England. The 

 leaf-stalks of the plant are prepared for table use by blanching in a 

 dark place, by which means tender shoots of an agreeable flavour 

 and only a slightly bitter taste are obtained, whereas if grown 

 exposed to the light they become intolerably acrid. 



Culture. — Sea-kale may be propagated either from divisions 

 or cuttings of the root or from seed. By the first-named method, in 

 February or early in March, the roots of old plants are cut into 

 pieces about 4 in. long, which are at once planted, where the crop is 



Sea-kale natural size). 



