"Flowers of the Field," is doubtless the true one. "Its name," this gentleman says, “from fumus, smoke, was given because the smoke of this plant was said by the ancient exorcists to have the power of expelling evil spirits, when men believed in herbes of vertue,' and called in their aid to 'Chase evil spirits away by dint Of sickle, horseshoe, hollow flint.'" The author has inquired in many villages for any trace of old superstitious customs connected with the Fumitory, but could find none, though they probably exist in Northamptonshire, as Clare says "And Fumitory, too, a name Which superstition holds to Fame." This, and other species, are, however, still used in milk as a cosmetic, and probably are not without efficacy in removing freckles, and the brown tint given by exposure to the sun. Shakspeare alludes to the Fumitory as a sign of a neglected soil: "Her fallow leas The darnel, hemlock and rank fumitory The even mead that erst brought sweetly forth 2. F. officinalis (Common Fumitory).-Sepals narrower than the corolla, acute, sharply toothed; fruit nearly globose, terminating abruptly; leaflets narrow, usually channelled. Plant annual. Common as this plant is in dry fields and on road-sides, and intruding itself unbidden into the garden, yet it is not indigenous to our soil, though now one of its commonest weeds. In the days of Conrad Gesner, it was rare in the fields of Southern Europe, and supposed to come from the East; now, it grows not only in England, but is wild in the corn-fields of most continental countries, from Greece to Lapland. The flowers are smaller than those of the species last described; they are rose-coloured, and tipped with purple; and children, in many parts of Kent, call them wax dolls. The plant is in flower nearly all the summer; and even as early as May the field of young green corn is often reddened by its numbers. It was formerly much used as a tonic medicine; and Thunberg mentions that in Japan it is employed medicinally. 3. F. parviflora (Least-flowered Fumitory).-Sepals very minute; fruit globose, slightly pointed, or blunt; leaflets linear, channelled. Plant annual. This plant is found in corn-fields but rarely, flowering from June to September. Wouldham, near Rochester, the neighbourhood of Epsom, and the Calton Hill, Edinburgh, are named by Sir William Hooker and Dr. Arnott as the places of its growth. It has rose-coloured blossoms, but a variety occurs in which the flower is white, tipped with purple. 4. F. micrántha (Small-flowered Fumitory).-Sepals somewhat cordate at the base, deeply toothed at the margin, concave at the back, shorter and broader than the corolla. Segments of the leaves narrow and channelled. Plant annual. A small plant, blooming from June to August, in waste places; very rare in England, though found in several spots in the east of Scotland. Several varieties of the last two species are described, while many botanists consider that both of these small-flowered kinds of Fumitory are but varieties of the commoner and larger kinds. ORDER VI. CRUCIFERA-CRUCIFEROUS TRIBE. The crosswise arrangement of the petals at once distinguishes the cruciform plants, instances of which blossoms are very familiar in the Wallflower, Stock, and other wild and garden plants. The petals are invariably four in number, and the stamens six, of which two opposite ones are shorter than the other four. The seed-vessel is either a long silique, composed of two valves and a central partition; or it is a shorter pod, termed a silicle, or pouch, which is generally, but not invariably, similarly formed. Two green glands are usually present at the base of the stamens, and secrete honey. The plants are either annual, biennial, or perennial herbs, occasionally becoming, as in the Wallflower, a sort of under shrub, but rarely exceeding three feet in height. The Cruciferous Order furnishes us with many of the vegetables which constitute our food. The Turnip, Cabbage, Radish, Horse-radish, and a variety of other important plants, have cruciform blossoms. Most vegetables of this order contain, when wild, an acrid, volatile, oily principle, which is peculiarly abundant in the seeds of the Mustard and the roots of the Horse-radish, and which occurs in a milder form in the foliage of the Watercress, the Scurvy-grass, and other edible plants. The cruciform plants also contain a quantity of nitrogen gas, which is the cause of the unpleasant odour emitted by them in decaying. It has been observed that cruciform plants are always eatable when their texture is succulent and watery, as in the leaves of the cabbage, and the roots of the turnip and radish. None are unwholesome, though some, like the Wallflower, are too acrid to be palatable. Many very beautiful garden flowers are contained in this order. The fragrant Stock and Wallflower, the Candy-tufts, the Rockets and Alyssums, are found in almost every garden; and the pretty Cuckoo-flower, the Cardamine of the meadow, and the yellow Cherlock of the fields, are only a few of the many which blossom in our wild landscape. The chief generic mark of this order is founded on the position of the radicle or embryo roots with regard to the cotyledons or seed-lobes; but as this arrangement is too difficult to be comprehended by any but the scientific botanist, it is not alluded to in a work intended for popular use. The Cruciform Order is pre-eminently European, occurring mostly in the temperate regions of Europe and Asia. Upwards of 200 grow in the frigid zone, the scanty vegetation being chiefly composed of these plants. Some of them thrive at the limits of the perpetual snows of lofty mountains, and others follow man into whatever region he may penetrate. Seed-vessel, a pouch (silicle) or short pod. + Pouch 2-valved, with a central vertical partition. 1. THLASPI (Penny-cress).-Pouch rounded, flat, notched; valves boat-shaped, winged at the back; seeds many. Name from the Greek thlao, to flatten. 2. CAPSELLA (Shepherd's Purse).-Pouch inversely heart-shaped, flat; valves boat-shaped, keeled, but not winged; seeds numerous. Name, a small capsa, or seed-case. 3. HUTCHINSIA.-Pouch elliptical, entire; valves boat-shaped, keeled, not winged; cells 2-seeded. Named from Miss Hutchins, of Bantry, Ireland, an eminent botanist. 4. TEESDÁLIA.-Pouch roundish, notched; valves boat-shaped, keeled; cells 2-seeded; stamens having a small scale at the base of each, within. Named in honour of Mr. Teesdale, of Yorkshire. 5. LEPÍDIUM (Pepper-wort).—Pouch roundish; valves keeled; cells 1-seeded; petals equal. Name from the Greek lépis, a scale, from the shape of the pouches. 6. IBÉRIS (Candy-tuft).-Pouch blunt; valves keeled and winged; cells 1-seeded; petals unequal. Name from Iberia, Spain, where many species grow wild. 7. COCHLEÁRIA (Scurvy-grass).—Pouch globose, or nearly so; valves not flattened; seeds numerous. Name from cochlear, a spoon, from the shape of the leaves. 8. SUBULÁRIA (Awl-wort).-Pouch oval; valves flattened, boat-shaped; seeds Name from súbula, an awl, from the shape of the leaves. numerous. 9. DRABA (Whitlow-grass).-Pouch oval, or oblong; valves slightly convex ; seeds many, in two rows. Name from the Greek drabé, acrid. 10. CAMELÍNA.-Pouch oval; valves inflated, with a prominent nerve at the base; cells many-seeded. Name from chama linum, dwarf flax. 11. KÓNIGA.—Pouch oval; valves flattened; cells 1-seeded. Name in honour of Mr. König, of the British Museum. ++ Pouch without a central vertical partition; or 1-celled, and 1-seeded. 12. CAKÍLÉ (Sea-Rocket).—Pouch angular, with a horizontal joint;⚫ lower division containing a pendent seed, the upper an erect seed, soon falling off. Name of Arabic origin. 13. CRAMBÉ (Sea-Kale).-Pouch 2-jointed; upper cell containing one pendent seed, which is supported on a stalk springing from the base of the cell; lower joint seedless. Name from the Greek crambé, a cabbage. 14. CORÓNOPUS (Wart-cress).—Pouch 2-lobed, rough, not bursting; cells 1-seeded. Name from the Greek coroné, a crow, and pous, a foot, from the shape of the leaves. 15. ISÁTIS.-Pouch flattened, 1-celled, 1-seeded; valves keeled. Name from the Greek isazo, to render equal, because supposed to destroy all roughnesses of the skin. ** Seed-vessel a silique, or long pod. + Pod opening by two valves. 16. DENTÁRIA (Coral-root).-Pod narrow, pointed; valves flat, nerveless ; seeds in a single row, on broad stalks. Name, dens, tooth, from the tooth-like divisions of the root. 17. CARDAMINE (Bitter-cress).-Pod linear; valves flat and nerveless, separating with an elastic spring; seeds in a single row, on thread-like stalks. Name from the Greek cardia, the heart, and damao, to fortify, from its supposed strengthening properties. 18. ARABIS (Rock-cress).—Pod linear; valves flat, nerved, or veined; stigma nearly sessile, obtuse; seeds in a single row. Name, from being originally an Arabian genus. 19. TURRÍTIS (Tower Mustard).-Pod linear, 2-edged; valves prominently nerved; seeds in two rows. Name from turris, tower, from its place of growth, or from its towering form. 20. BARBAREA (Winter-cress).-Pod linear, 4-angled; valves with prominent nerve; seeds in a single row; calyx erect. Name from St. Barbara, to whom it was anciently dedicated. 21. NASTÚRTIUM (Cress).-Pod short, nearly cylindrical; valves convex, nerveless; seeds irregularly placed in two rows; calyx spreading. Name from nasus tortus, a distorted nose, on account of the pungent properties. 22. SISÝMBRIUM (Hedge Mustard).—Pod rounded or angular; valves convex, with three nerves; stigma entire; seeds in a single row. Name, the Greek name of the plant. 23. ERYSIMUM (Treacle Mustard).-Pod 4-sided; valves keeled; stigma obtuse, entire or notched; seeds without margins, in a single row. Name from the Greek eruo, to cure. 24. CHÉIRANTHUS (Wallflower).-Pod flattened; valves with a prominent nerve; stigma of two spreading lobes; calyx erect, two opposite sepals swollen at the base. Name probably of Arabic origin. 25. MATTHÍOLA (Stock).-Pod cylindrical, or flattened; stigma of two converging lobes; seeds generally with a membranous wing. Name, in honour of the Italian botanist, Dr. Matthiolus. 26. BRASSICA (Cabbage).—Pod nearly cylindrical, beaked; valves 1-nerved; seeds globose, in a single row; calyx erect. Name from the Celtic bresic, a cabbage. 27. SINAPIS (Mustard).-Pod nearly cylindrical, tapering; valves with 3 or 5 nerves; seeds globose, generally in a single row; calyx spreading. Name from the Greek sinapi, mustard. 28. HÉSPERUS (Dame's Violet).—Pod 4-sided or 2-edged; stigma nearly sessile; calyx erect. Named from Hesperos, the evening; at which time the flowers yield a powerful fragrance. ++ Pod without valves. 29. RAPHANUS (Radish).-Pod swollen, imperfectly jointed, tapering; seeds globular; calyx spreading. Name in Greek signifying its early appearance, or quick growth. 1. THLÁSPI (Penny-cress). 1. T. arvense (Mithridate Mustard, or Penny-cress).-Pouch round and flat, with a broad wing around it, and a deep notch; seeds striated; leaves oblong, arrow-shaped at the base, smooth and toothed. Plant annual. This cress has a very singular appearance in autumn, when the flowers are dead, and its large flat seed-vessels stand around the upper part of its stem. These seed-vessels are about the size of silver pennies, hence its English name; and Pliny mentions that it is from them that the whole genus was called Thlaspi : he adds that they are like lentils. When rubbed, this plant has a faint odour of garlic; and Sir J. E. Smith remarks, that it was formerly used in the Mithridate confection, “ an elaborate hodge-podge now laid aside." This plant is in blossom all the summer on waste ground, or in cultivated fields, but it is of local occurrence. The flowers are small and white, and grow in little clusters. 66 2. T. perfoliátum (Perfoliate Penny-cress).-Pouch inversely heart-shaped, and surrounded by a wing; style shorter than the notch of the pouch; seeds smooth, three or four in a cell; stem-leaves oblong, heart-shaped at the base. Plant annual. This is a much rarer plant than the last, growing only on limestone pastures in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. A few years since, only one British habitat was recorded; this was among the old stone-pits about Burford, in Oxfordshire; but, perhaps, the botanists who sought it were too eager in their desire to possess specimens of so rare a plant, and eradicated it, for it can now be seldom found there. This is too often the case with rare plants, which are sometimes gathered with a selfish inconsideration for other botanists; and hence many persons are unwilling to make known the place of growth of any peculiarly interesting species. The Perfoliate Penny-cress is now found in great abundance in the stony valleys of the Cotswolds; and Sir William Hooker and Dr. Arnott |