THE CABBAGE FAMILY. 



505 



the ancient Britons painted their bodies. Since the intro- 

 duction of indigo it has fallen into disuse, except with woollen 

 manufacturers, who use it mixed with indigo. 



Isatis indigotica. A native of China, and, like the above, 

 yields a blue dye. 



As a curiosity, what is called Cow or Jersey cabbage may 

 be here noticed, being like the common cabbage, of which it 

 is a variety, but growing on a stem, sometimes attaining the 

 height of 12 or 13 feet, which is formed by continually strip- 

 ping off the lower leaves. The stems are quite firm and hard, 

 and are made into walking-sticks that are lighter even than 

 cork ; the only true shrubs of the family are Vella Pseudo- 

 CytisuSj native of the South of Europe, having yellow flowers, 

 and several species of Iberis (Candytuft), which have woody 

 stems, forming low bushes 1 to 3 feet high. 



Rose of Jericho (^Anastatica Hierochuntind). An insigni- 

 ficant annual, consisting of several small-branched stems, 4 to 

 6 inches in length, rising from a tap-root and at first lying 

 prostrate. It is a native of Syria, Egypt, and North Africa, 

 growing in dry, desert places. After the seeds are perfected 

 the stems become dry, hardened, and incurved, meeting each 

 other and forming a hollow, skeleton-like ball, which by the 

 force of the wind is loosened and blows about the desert. 

 Upon the application of moisture it again expands, retaining 

 this property for many years. It grows abundantly in the 

 regions about Jericho, and is held in a degree of superstitious 

 sacredness by the natives, but it is difficult to explain why 

 it has received the name of Eose of Jericho, as it is as unlike 

 a rose as a cabbage. In this country it was kept as a curio- 

 sity, but it is now superseded by its more elegant rival, the 

 Resurrection plant, which see. 



The following are common showy garden plants : — Rocket 

 {Hesperis matronalis) ] Wall^ower (Cheiranthus Cheiri) Ten- 

 Week Stock (Matthiola annua) ; Gilly Flower or Brompton 

 Stock [Matthiola incana) ; Yellow Alyssum {Alyssum saxatile); 

 Purple Alyssum (Farsetia deltoidea) ; and different kinds of 

 Candytufts and Arabis. 



