October 13. THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
M 
D 
D 
VV 
Weather nh 
OCTOBER 13-19, 1853. Barometer. 
AR LONI 
Thermo. 
)ON IN 
Wind. 
1852. 
Rain in 
Inches. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon Moon’s 
R. & S. | Age. 
Clock 
af. Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
13 
Th 
Scarce Umber; trees. 30.360—30.303 
54—41 
E. 
_ 
23 a. 6 
10 a. 5 
1 38 11 
13 
44 
286 
14 
F 
Mottled Umber; trees. I 30.291—30.251 
48—46 
N.E. 
— 
24 
8 
2 55 i 12 
13 
58 
287 
15 
s 
Mallow Moth; mallows. 30.258—30.135 
54—44 
E. 
— 
26 
6 
4 10 1 13 
14 
1 ! 
288 
16 
Sun 
21 Sunday after Trinity. 30.234—30.212 
52-29 
E. 
— 
28 
4 
5 23 14 
14 
24 
289 
17 
M 
30.195—30.124 
54—36 
N.E. 
— 
39 
1 
rises. | @ 
14 
36 
290 
18 
Tu 
St. Luke. [ 30.345—30.175 
56—31 
N.E. 
— 
81 
IV 
5 a 53 16 
14 
48 
201 
L 19 
W 
Virginian Creeper leaves fall. 1 30.451—30.305 
55—30 
N. 
— 
33 
5 7 
6 12 17 
14 
59 
292 
Meteorology of the Week.— At Chiswick, from observations during the last twenty-six years, the average highest and lowesttem- 
I ; peratures of these days are 58.8° and 42.2° respectively. The greatest heat, 76°, occurred on the 14th in 1845 ; and the lowest cold, 24°, on the 
18th in 1843. During the period 103 days were fine, and on 79 rain fell. 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
(Continued from page 1.) 
TURRITIS.—TOWER MUSTARD. 
Generic Character. — Calyx erect; leaves oblong, con¬ 
verging, deciduous; two opposite ones very slightly pro¬ 
tuberant at the base. Petals reversed-oblong-egg-shaped, 
undivided, erect, not twice the length of the calyx. Filaments 
thread-shaped, simple, erect, unconnected. Anthers oblong, 
incumbent. Germen line like, the length of the petals. 
Style very short. Stigma blunt, simple. Pod line-like, 
compressed, very long and slender, crowned with the per¬ 
manent stigma; valves straight, Hat, each with a prominent 
keel, and quite as long as the linear membranous partition. 
Seeds very numerous, disposed in a double row in each 
cell, crowded, obliquely pendulous, egg-shaped, compressed, 
slightly bordered; cotyledons flat, accumbent. 
Turritis glabra : Smooth Tower Mustard; Towerwort. 
Description. —It is an annual Root carrot-shaped. Stem 
two or three feet high, cylindrical, erect, wand-like, simple, 
smooth, except at the bottom, leafy. Radical-leaves numerous, 
spreading, toothed, or sinuated, so as to be almost lyre¬ 
shaped, rough on both sides with rigid, forked, or simple, 
hairs; stem-leaves numerous, alternate, upright, oblong- 
arrow-shaped, entire, milky-green, quite smooth, clasping the 
stem, but not perfoliate as some writers have, denominated 
them. Flowers numerous, closely clustered. Petals pale 
sulphur-coloured. Pods very long and slender, smooth and 
even, erect, close to the stem, on short stalks, cylindrical 
when full grown. Seeds reddish-brown, about sixty in each 
cell, very small. 
Places where found .—Not common in England, and rare 
in Scotland. On the dry gravelly soil of road-side banks. 
Time of flowering .—May to June. 
History. —Until Mr. Brown pointed to the double row of 
seeds in Turritis, botanists had been at a loss for a generic 
distinction between it and Arabis. It is not difficult to 
explain why it should have been called a Mustard, for the 
pungency of its flavour entitles it to be so distinguished, but 
why the term Turritis, or Tower, should be applied to it is 
less apparent. It may have been that Clusius, who bestowed 
the name, discovered the original species on the old ruins 
of some tower; or it may be, that its pyramidal form of 
growth suggested the name. Ruellius says—“ that the 
juice of the herb healetli ulcers of the mouth, and that the 
poor peasant (on the continent) doth use the oil (of the 
seeds) in banquets, and the rich in their lamps.” (Smith. 
Withering. Martyn. Gerardo.) 
BARBAREA PRiECOX.—EARLY WINTER CRESS. 
This was accidentally omitted at page 1 of our last 
number. 
i 
No. CCLXIII., Vol. XL 
