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BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
IX.— THE CABBAGE TRIBE. 
Seed-pod a silique. Seeds globose. 
GENUS XXY. 
THE CABBAGE. (Brassica, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. TETRADYNAMIA SILIQUOSA. 
Generic Character. —Siliqua with valves dehiscing lengthwise ; dissepiment linear. Seeds globose. Cotyledons doubled together. {Dec.) 
Description, &c. —The plants belonging to this genus are generally so well known in a cultivated state, as 
to render any detailed description of them unnecessary. As, however, they are very much altered by cultivation, 
and are rarely seen in blossom in gardens, many persons may be unable to recognise them when they meet with 
them growing wild. The word Brassica is derived from Bresic, the Celtic name of the Cabbage. 
1.—THE WILD, OR SEA CABBAGE. (Brassica oleraoea, Lin.) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 637 ; 2nd ed., t. 952 ; and our fig. 1, waved, lobed, partly lyrate, all perfectly smooth. Pod without a 
in PI. 12. beak. (Smith.) 
Specific Character. —Roots cylindrical, fleshy. Leaves glaucous, 
Description, &c.— This species, which grows in considerable abundance on the rocks and cliffs facing the 
sea in various parts of England, is the origin of the common garden Cabbage, the Colewort, Savoys and Brussels 
Sprouts, and, what is still more remarkable, of all the various kinds of Broccoli and Cauliflower common in our 
gardens. The wild plant is as unlike any of its numerous descendants as can be well imagined. Its stem grows 
from one to two feet high ; the flowers are in a long loose raceme, and of a bright yellow, and the leaves are 
always deeply cut and generally lyrate, except those of the stem near the flower. 
2.— THE ISLE OF MAN CABBAGE. (Brassica monensis, Hudson.) 
Synonymes. —Sisymbrium monetise, Lin. ; Diplotaxis saxatilis, 
(Dec.) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 962 ; 2nd ed., t. 953. 
Specific Character. —Leaves glaucous, deeply pinnatifid, nearly 
smooth ; lobes oblong, unequally toothed. Stem simple, smooth. 
Pods quadrangular ; beak lodging two or three seeds. (Smith.) 
Description, &c. —This very singular species of Cabbage is only found on the sandy sea-shores of the Isle 
of Man, and on the opposite coasts of England, Ireland, and Scotland. It is a perennial, and produces its large 
yellow flowers in June and July. Nothing can be imagined much less like a Cabbage than this plant, with its 
numerous, widely spreading stems, each about a foot long, and its deeply pinnatifid leaves ; but probably if it 
were subjected to cultivation, it might change in as surprising a manner as the other species of the same genus. 
RAPE-SEED. (B. Nafus, Lin.) 
This species is cultivated for the oil expressed from its seeds ; the seeds, when crushed, being formed into a 
substance called oil-cake, which is used in feeding cattle. The leaves are stem-clasping, and of a glaucous hue. 
The flowers are small, and of a bright yellow. It is a biennial, and common in every part of the kingdom on 
the banks of ditches and on waste ground. 
THE WILD TURNIP. (B. Rapa, Lin.) 
The flowers of the Wild Turnip are larger than those of the Rape ; but in the leaves the two species bear a 
considerable resemblance to each other. The Turnip is, however, easily distinguished by the thickening at the 
