BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
33 
CHAPTER VI. 
THE CRUCIFEROUS FAMILY. (Crucifers, Juss.) 
Character of the Order. — Sepals four, deciduous, cruciate. 
Petals four, cruciate, alternate ■with the sepals. Stamens six, of 
which two are shorter, solitary, and opposite the lateral sepals, occa¬ 
sionally toothed; and four longer, in pairs, opposite the anterior and 
posterior sepals, generally distinct, sometimes connate, or furnished 
with a tooth on the inside. Disk with various green glands between 
the petals and the stamens and ovarium. Ovarium superior, unilo¬ 
cular, with parietal placenta; often meeting in the middle, and forming 
a spurious dissepiment. Stigmata two, opposite the placentae. Fruit 
a siliqua or silicula, one-celled,_ or spuriously two-celled ; one, or 
many-seeded ; dehiscing by two valves separating from the septum ; 
or indehiscent. Seeds attached in a single row by a funiculus to each 
side of the placentae, generally pendulous. Albumen none. Embryo 
with the radicle folded upon the cotyledons. Herbaceous plants, 
annual, biennial, or perennial, very seldom suffruticose. Flowers 
usually yellow or white : seldom purple. Leaves alternate. Bracts 
none. ( Lindley .) 
Description, &c. —The number of British plants belonging to the Cruciferse is very considerable, and 
among them are included the "Wild Cabbage, the Sea Kale, the Radish, the Turnip, the Horse-radish, and 
various other well-known plants. All these are easily known by their flowers, which have four petals, disposed 
in the form of a cross, and hence the name given to the order of Cruciferas, which signifies cross-bearing. 
There are six stamens, four of which are longer than the others. The seed-pod is composed of three pieces, two 
of which are called the valves, and open naturally when the seed is ripe. The valves are separated by a thin 
membrane or dissepiment, to which the seeds are attached. The seeds themselves contain no albumen, being 
entirely filled up with the embryo, the cotyledons, or seed-leaves, of which are folded differently in the different 
plants ; and these differences have been used by modern botanists to form the Cruciferas into sub-orders. As, 
however, it requires a microscope to ascertain these peculiarities, I have thought it unnecessary to trouble my 
readers with them ; though I have arranged the genera in tribes. 
Linnaeus placed all the Cruciferous plants in his Class Tetradynamia, which signifies having six stamens, four 
of which are longer than the others; and the plants contained in this class he divided into two orders, viz., 
Siliculosa, including those plants which have their seeds in a short pod or silicle, like the Candy-tuft and the 
Shepherd’s Purse; and Siliquosa, including those which have their seeds in a long narrow pod or silique, like the 
Wall-flower and the Cabbage. 
Modern botanists arrange the Cruciferse in sub-orders, distinguished by the position of the cotyledons, and 
into tribes as enumerated below. 
All the plants belonging to the Cruciferse are wholesome to eat ; but some of them are extremely 
pungent, and nearly all are very greatly improved by cultivation. 
I.—THE WALL CRESS TRIBE. 
All the plants in this tribe have a long pod, or silique, which opens naturally when ripe. The seeds are 
oval, compressed, and often with a border round the margin. The partition between the valves of the seed-pod 
is long and narrow, but somewhat broader than the seeds that lie upon it. The valves themselves are convex. 
F 
