CRUCll'EHTE. 
23 
oblongo-lanceolate, acuminate, concave, puberulous. Sepals 
obovato-oblong, shortly subacuminate with the apex blunt, 
concave, externally sanguineo-purpurescent, caducous. Stamens 
12, or more frequently 16: filaments finely capillary : anthers 
linear. Alibastrum ovate. Pulp, in which the base of the seed 
is immersed, of a cinnabar colour. 
This plant is indigenous to all the West India Islands. It 
grows in waste places, and in land which has been partially 
cultivated. All parts of the plant, especially previous to flower- 
ing, abound with a yellow juice ; and Barham supposes that, 
from its resembling the common Celandine in this respect, it has 
received the same name. According to Hernandez, the Indian 
kings cultivated it in their gardens ; but for what purpose, it is 
difficult to imagine, as, though a handsome plant, and of a 
rather remarkable appearance, its flowers have no pretensions 
to beauty. The juice is acrid and bitter, and, like that of the 
Gamboge thistle, lias been employed in cases of chronic Ophthal- 
mia. The expressed juice of the root has also been made use 
of in similar cases, and to remove warts and fungous flesh, and 
as an application for tetters and ring-worm. The root scraped 
and beat up into a pulp, is an excellent application to foul ulcers. 
From the colour of the root, it commonly receives the name of 
the Wild Carrot. 
ORDER XI. CRUCIFERS 
Perigonium double, hypogynous. Calyx of' 4> 
sepals, cruciate. Petals 4, cruciate, alternate with the 
sepals. Stamens 6, of which c 2 are shorter, solitary, 
and opposite to the lateral sepals ; 4 longer, in pairs, 
opposite to the anterior and the posterior sepals. 
Disk with various green glandules between the petals 
and the stamen and ovary. Ovary unilocular, 1- 
styled. Fruit a silique. Seeds exalbuminose : 
embryo curved, with the cotyledons folded over the 
radicle. 
lierbciceous plants, annual, biennial, or perennial, very sel- 
dom suft’ruticose : leaves alternate ; flowers usually yellow or 
white, seldom purple. The species comprised in this order, 
are, according to De Candolle, 900 in number, of which he has 
had opportunities of examining 800. There are only two 
