BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
37 
GENUS V. 
THE TOWER-MUSTARD. (Turritis, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. TETRADYNAMIA SILIQUOSA. 
Generic Character. —Siliqua linear ; the valves flat. Seeds in two rows in each cell. Flowers white or whitish. (Dec.) 
Description, &c. —There is only one species of this genus a native of Britain, and it has no beauty to 
recommend it. The flowers are very small, and of a pale straw-colour. The leaves are long and of a glaucous 
green, and the seed pods, which are very long, stand erect. Turritis glabra , the only British species, is 
common on the hedge-banks and road-sides in Norfolk and Suffolk ; but it is rarely found in any other part of 
the kingdom. The name of Turrita signifies a tower, and it is applied to this plant from the tower-like form 
of its stem and pods. The seeds, which are sharp in taste, and smell of garlic, were formerly supposed to be an 
antidote for poison. 
GENUS VI. 
THE ROCK, OR WALL-CRESS. (Arabis, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. TETRADYNAMIA SILIQUOSA. 
Generic Character. —Siliqua linear; valves flat, with a single rib in the middle. Seeds in one row in each cell, oval or orbicular, compressed. 
Cotyledons flat. Flowers white, unfrequently pink. (Dec.) 
Description, &c. —The plants included in this genus are always found, when growing wild, attached either 
to a wall or a rock, and hence their popular English names. They are rarely found growing in hot climates ; 
though the name of Arabis is said to be derived from Arabia, because one of the species is very common in 
that country. 
1.—THE COMMON WALL-CRESS. (Arabis Turrita, Smith.) 
Synonymes. —A. umbrosa, Crantz; Tower Wall-Cress. stalks the length of the calyx, each with a leafy bractea. Pods linear, 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 178 ; 2d ed.,t. 931. flat, thick-edged, recurved in one direction. (Smith.) 
Specific Character. —Leaves toothed, clasping the stem. Flower 
Description, &c. —This is one of the prettiest species of the genus, though even it is not very remarkable 
for its beauty, its long horn-like pods appearing at the same time as its flowers. It is found very abundantly 
on the walls of some of the Colleges at Oxford, and in a few places in Scotland. It is a biennial, flowering 
in May. The pods grow erect, and form a kind of wall round the stem, so as to bear some resemblance to a 
turret. 
2.— THE COMMON ROCK-CRESS. (Arabis petrjea, Hook.) 
Synonymes. —Cardamine petrsea, Huds. ; C. liastulata, Smith ; 
Arabis hispida, Linn. ; A. Crantziana, Willd.; Stone Cress. 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 469 ; 2d ed., t. 928 ; and our fig. 4, 
in PI. 9. 
Specific Character. —Radical leaves hastate or lyrate, smooth or 
bristly, tufted ; stem-leaves lanceolate, entire, scattered, mostly smooth. 
Petals spreading. Root branched at the crown. (Smith.) 
Description, &c. —This plant is found in moist places in various parts of North Wales and in Scotland, 
always growing among rocks. The flowers are purplish, and, though small, they are very pretty. The leaves 
grow in tufts, springing from the crown of the root. The plant is a perennial, and it flowers in June and July. 
