BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
45 
appearance to the others. The name of Iberis is slightly altered from Iberia, the Roman name for Spain, 
several of the species being natives of that country. Candy-tuft alludes to the first ornamental species 
cultivated in British gardens having been brought there from the Island of Candia, and producing tufts of 
flowers. 
1.—THE BITTER CANDY-TUFT (Iberis abiara, Lin.) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 52; 2nd ed., t. 903. 
Specific Character. —Stem herbaceous. Leaves lanceolate, acute, partly notched. Flowers in oblong clusters. (Smith.) 
Description, &c. —The British Candy-tuft is only found in chalky fields, generally in Oxfordshire and 
Berkshire ; and some botanists suppose it not to be a true native, but only escaped from a garden. The 
flowers are very conspicuous from their brilliant whiteness, but the stems are weak and spreading, and rarely 
above six inches high. 
IV.—THE SEA-ROCKET TRIBE. 
Seed-pod separating transversely into joints with one or two cells, and one or two seeds. Seeds not bordered, 
that is, without any distinct margin. 
GENUS XY. 
THE SEA-ROCKET. (Cakile, Tourn.) 
Lin. Syst. TETRADYNAMIA SILICULOSA. 
Generic Character. —Silicula with two joints, compressed ; the upper joint ensiform or ovate. Seeds solitary in each joint ; that of the 
upper erect, of the lower pendulous. (Dec.) 
Description, &c. —There is only one species in this genus, and that is, the Sea-Rocket so commonly found 
on the southern coast of England. Cakile is an Arabic word, which has been long applied to this genus. 
1.— THE COMMON SEA-ROCKET. (Cakile biaritibia, Willd .) 
Synonymes. —Bunias Cakile, Lin.; Eruca maritima, Fuchs. Specific Character. —Joints of the silicula two-edged ; the upper 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 231 ; 2nd ed., t. 891 ; and our fig. 2, one arrow-shaped. Leaves fleshy, pinnatifid, obtuse. (Smith.) 
in PI. 10. 
Description, &c. —This species is extremely common on the sea-shore in almost every part of Great 
Britain ; and it is very ornamental from its handsome purple flowers and its free habit of growth. The seed- 
pods of this plant are very curious, each of them being divided in the middle by a joint into two distinct parts, 
the upper of which contains a fertile seed, and the lower one a seed which is generally abortive. The leaves are 
succulent, and are very agreeable to eat. The stem is much branched and spreading, and the flowers are 
produced in great abundance from June till September. The plant does not appear to have been cultivated in 
gardens, as it will not flourish unless close to the sea. There is a variety with white flowers, but it is not very 
common. 
