THE WALL-FLOWER 
261 
This flower is generally described as yielding a slight 
scent of musk, and this only from its leaves ; but perhaps 
it has not been observed in the evening, when every part 
of it is so fragrant that, if gathered, it will fill a room 
with its odour. It is not common in Kent and some 
other counties; but in Essex it is very abundant. Plants 
whose blossoms, like those of the wall-flower, are shaped 
like a Maltese cross, are termed by botanists cruciform; 
and they constitute the natural order Cruciferas. 
If the reader remember the form of the single wall- 
flower, with its four petals, and its flower-cup of four 
leaves, he may know the order whenever he meets with 
it. There is, too, in cruciferous plants, a great similarity 
of properties. They are generally characterised by a pun- 
gent principle, which renders them valuable to the phy- 
sician; and they all diffuse, when bruised, an odour of 
mustard. A large number of cruciform plants are eaten 
at our tables; and even those which, like the wall-flower, 
are unpleasant to the palate, are yet wholesome. In the 
kitchen-garden we find the radish, the turnip, the horse- 
radish, and many plants of this kind; and the large num- 
ber of cresses, both wild and cultivated, which by their 
pungent principle render salads more wholesome, have 
cross-shaped flowers. 
The wild mustards, of which there are too many kinds 
to be enumerated here, have yellow or white blossoms 
in this form. One of them, commonly known by the 
name of charlock (Sinapis arvensis), gives the neglected 
field a very gay colour : and far over the landscape may 
be seen the patch of bright yellow, where only the green 
leaves of the corn would be welcomed by the land-ovmer. 
Everyone must have observed in May and June the corn- 
field, where 
“ O’er the young corn the charlock throws a shade, 
And clasping tares cling round the sickly blade.” 
Many more cruciform plants may be mentioned. There 
are the different kinds of scurvy-grass, with white flowers. 
One of these, the English scurvy-grass (Cochlearia an- 
glica), grows on rocks and muddy shores, and is very 
common by the sea-side, as well as by salt rivers. It 
