762 TETRADYNAM1A. SILICULOSA. Cochlearia* 
The following metamorphosis of this Proteus-like plant is more extraordi¬ 
nary than any other which has occurred to my observation. 
Root woody, sending out fibres. Stem none. Leaf-stalks lying close on the 
ground, springing from the crown of the root, very slender, about one or 
one and a half inch long. Leaves smooth, entire, varying from circular to 
heart-shaped, sometimes with a single indentation on each side, about 
the eighth of an inch in diameter. Fruit-stalks from the crown of the 
root, very slender, leafless, one to one and a half inch long, supporting a 
single flower. Blossom petals reflexed, very much larger than the calyx, 
of a bright rich lilac-colour, streaked with deeper purple lines. Pouch 
circular heart-shaped, two-celled, with four rough seeds in each, placed 
alternately, on short pedicles. 
This elegant little plant grows in a rich soil in various places about Lisbon, 
but more particularly on the shores of the Tagus ; flowering in January 
and February, and 1 never saw it there assume any other appearance, so 
that concluding it to be a Cochlearia, I fully concurred in opinion with 
my good friend the Abbe Corr&a da Serra that it was a species unknown to 
the Linnsean School. Some seeds sown in my garden at Edgbaston in the 
autumn of 17.03, produced plants which flowered in March 1794. These 
agreed in every respect with the Portugal plants. In .April the colour of 
the petals was more dilute, the whole plant larger, and much resembling 
C. Danica, as represented in the FI. Dan. t. 100. In the month of May 
the petals became entirely white, and much smaller than those which 
had flowered in March : the flowers formed a corymbus, the stems grew 
to a foot or more in height, bearing angular leaves, and in every respect 
corresponding with the ordinary C. officinalis. 
(The real C. Groenlandica, of Linnaeus, remarkable for larger and more 
beautiful flowers, is said to have been found by Mr. G. Don on the moun¬ 
tains of Clova in Augusshire, and Loch-ne-gare ; but it appears doubtful 
whether even this may not prove a variety of C. officinalis. Sir J. E. 
Smith does (e not venture to assert that it is a distinct species.” Prof. 
Hooker states, I can see no difference whatever in C. Groenlandica; 
for the sinuated and toothed, or entire leaves, are extremely variable 
marks and Mr. Robson, (in Hull,) observes, “ C. Groenlandica by culti¬ 
vation in a rich soil becomes C. officinalis ; but if kept confined in a pot, 
retains its diminutive size.” Vid. Linn. Tr. vol. x. p. 344. E. Rot. 2403. 
and FI. Lond. 147. E.) 
C. Dan'ica. All the leaves deltoid, stalked: (pouch reticulated with 
veins. E.) 
( E . Bot. 696. E.)— FI. Ban. 100— Loh. Obs. 338. 1, and Ic. i. 615. 2— Ger. 
Em. 271 —Park. 848. 1 ~J. B. ii. 939.2 —H. Ox. iii. 20. 3—Pet. 49. 3. 
Stems (three or four inches long, E.) not branched as in C. officinalis. 
Suckers trailing. All the leaves halberd-shaped, or egg-shaped, with an 
angle on each side of the base. Leaf-stalks not toothed at the base, or 
embracing the stem. Capsules egg-shaped. Linn. Blossom small, white. 
which seems to reside in a very subtile essential oil. Its effects as an antiscorbutic are 
universally known ; (in corroboration of the testimony of physicians, may be adduced that 
of the circumnavigators Maartens, Egede, Anson, and others of our own country. E.) It 
is a powerful remedy in the pituitous asthma, and in what Sydenham calls the scorbutic 
rheumatism. A distilled water, and a conserve, are prepared from the leaves, and its juice 
is prescribed along with that of oranges by the name of anti-scorbutic juices. It may be 
eaten as a salad. Cows eat it. Horses, goats, and sheep refuse it. 
