ORDER XII. FUMARIACEÆ.—THE FUMITORY TRIBE.
The flowers of plants of this order are so peculiar in their shape, as when once seen to be easily remembered. There are two small sepals, which soon fall off, and four petals of an irregular shape, two of them being drawn out into a kind of spur. There are six stamens, and the fruit is silique-formed. The plants have somewhat of a smoky smell, and when broken yield a watery juice. The principal genera are Fumaria, Corydalis, and Diclytra.
ORDER XIII. CRUCIFERÆ.—CRUCIFEROUS PLANTS.
The Cruciferous plants form so natural an order, that when one of them has been described the others may be easily recognised. They have all a separate calyx and corolla, each in four divisions; the four sepals being placed
Fig. 113.—The flower and stamens and pistil of the Sea-kale, to illustrate the Cruciferæ. alternately with the four petals, the latter forming a cross (as shown at a in fig. 113), whence the name of Cruciferous, which signifies cross-bearing. There are six stamens (b), two of which are much shorter than the others; and two carpels with one style, and a capitate or divided stigma. The seed-vessel is a kind of pod, either short and broad, like that of the Shepherd’s Purse (fig. 114), where it is called a sillicle; or long and narrow,
Fig. 114.—A Sillicle. like that of the Cabbage, which is called a silique. The two valves of the silique open naturally when ripe, from the bottom curving upwards, (see fig. 115,) and the seeds are deposited on a thin membrane between the cells, which is the dissepiment. All the Cruciferæ, from abounding in nitrogen, have an unpleasant smell when decaying, like putrid flesh; and when cultivated, they even in a wild state require abundance of animal manure; hence, they are generally found near human habitations, or where cattle are kept. When wild, they have generally acrid properties; and though these are in most cases softened by cultivation, yet they are still perceptible in the
