that the point of an instrument may be placed between them, each arises immediately from the insertion of the funiculi,
separating the pai*allel rows of seeds, a space occupied in Pringlea hy a distinct groove or channel. The fom of the
seed aud the thick spongy testa produced at the apex into a short rostrum, ai-e far more characteristic of cruciferous
plants with an incumbent than with an accumhent radicle; but that organ is here, as in Coehlearia, distinctly accumhent.
The contemplation of a vegetable veiy imlike any other in botanical affinity and in general appearance, so eminently
fitted for the food of man, and yet inhabiting one of the most desolate and inhospitable spots ou the surface of
the globe, must equally fill the mind of the scientific enquirer and common observer with wonder. The very fact of
Kerguelen’s Land being possessed of such a singularly luxuriant botanical feature, confers ou that small island
an importance far beyond what its volcanic origin or its dimensions would seem to claim; whilst the certainty that
so conspicuous a plant can never have been overlooked in any larger continent, but that it was created in all probability
near where it now grows, leads the mind back to an epoch far anterior to the present, when the vegetation
of the Island of Desolation may have presented a fertility of which this is perhaps the only remaining trace. Many
tons of coal and vast stores of now silicified wood (which I have mentioned in the introduction to this Part) are
locked up in or buiied imder those successive geological formations which have many times destroyed the forests of
this island, and as often themselves supported a luxuriant vegetation. The fires that desolated Kerguelen’s Land
are long ago extinct, nor does the island show any signs of the recent exertion of those powers, that have at one time
raised parts of it from the bed of the ocean with those submarine algse which once carpetted its shores, but which
now are some hundi’ed feet above the present level of the sea. The Pringlea, in short-, seems to have led an uninterrupted
and tranquil life for many ages; but however loth we may be to concede to any one vegetable production an
antiquity greater than another, or to this island a position to other lands wholly different from what it now presents,
the most casual inspection of the ground where the plant now grows, will force one of the two following conclusions
upon the mind; either that it was created after the extinction of the now buried and for ever lost vegetation, over
whose remains it abounds, or that it spread over the island from another and neighbouring region where it was undisturbed
during the devastation of this, but of whose existence no indication remains.
The illustrious Cook first discovered and drew attention to the “ Kerguelen’s Land Cabbage ” during his first
voyage, when accompanied by JIi’. Anderson as surgeon and naturalist. The latter gentleman drew up an account
of some of the more remai-kable plants which he collected there and in other islands, which are preserved in the
Banksian library; the present he designated as Pringlea in honour of Sir John Pringle, who ivrote a work upon
Scurty. The latter circumstance has induced me, at J lr. Brown’s suggestion, to assign the trivial name of anti-
scorbuiica. The Pringlea is exceedingly abundant over all pails of the island, ascending the hills up to 1400 feet, but
only attaining its usually lai-ge size close to the sea, where it is invariably the first plant to greet the voyager, like
the Cochleaiia or scurvy-grass upon many northern coasts. Its long rhizomata, often 3 or 4 feet long, lie along the
ground; they are sometimes 2 inches in diameter, fuH of spongy and fibrous substance intermixed, of a half woody
texture, and -with the flavom- of horse-radish, and bear at the extremity large heads of leaves, sometimes 18 inches
across, so like those of the common cabbage that if growing in a garden with their namesakes in England they would
not excite any particular attention; the outer leaves are coai-se, loosely placed and spreading, the inner form a dense
white heart, that tastes like mustard and cress, but is much coarser. The whole foliage abounds with essential oil
of a pale yellow colour, highly pungent, and confined in vessels that run parallel with the veins of the leaf, and
which are very conspicuous on making a transverse section of the head.
Dm-ing the whole stay of the * Erebus ’ and ‘ Terror ’ in Christmas Harbour, dady use was made of this vegetable,
either cooked by itself or boiled with the ships’ beef, pork, or pea-soup; the essential oil gives a peculiar
flavom* which the majority of the officers and the crew did not dislike, and which rendered the herb even more
wholesome than the common cabbage, for it never caused heart-bum, or any of the unpleasant symptoms which that
plant sometimes produces. Invaluable as it is in its native place, it is very doubtful whether this plant will ever
prove equally so in other situations. I t is of such slow growth that it probably could not be cultivated to advantage,
and I fear that, unlike the cow cabbage of Jersey, it would form no new heads after the old ones were removed.
even if it would survive the decapitation. Growing spontaneously and in so great abundance where it does, it is likely
to prove, for ages to come, an inestimable blessing to ships touching at this far-distant Isle ; whilst its luxuriance
amidst surrounding desolation, its singular form and appearance, striking even the casual observer, and the feelings
of loneliness and utter isolation from the rest of the world, that must more or less oppress every voyager at first
landing on its di-eary and inhospitable locality, are circumstances likely to render the Kerguelen’s Land cabbage,
cabbage tliough it be, a cherished object in the recollection of the mariner : one never to be effaced by the brighter
or luscious products of a tropical vegetation.
P l a t e XC.— XCI. Pig. I,—a young seed-vessel ; fig. 2, a side view of a matm-e silicula ; fig. 3, front riew
of the same ; f g . 4, the same with the valves removed, shewing the seeds ; fig. 5, a seed removed ; fig. 6, the same
cut open vertically ; f g . 7 , embryo, removed from the seed :—aU magnified.
5. TH LA S P I, B ill.
T klksei Magellanicum, P e r s . v o l . i i . p. 189. Poir. B ic t. Yol.riá.. p . h 4 \ . BC. Syst. Veg.
v o l ii. p. 381. Prodr. vol. i. p. 176.
H a b . Straits of Magalhaens, in dry and open places ; “ Baie Duelos” and “ Baie BoucauP’ ; Commerson.
As far as I am aware, this exists in the Paris Museum only; from whence De Candolle drew up his description,
according to which, it is sufficiently distmct from the only other South American species, T. Andicola, Hook, et
Arn., a native of the Andes of Chili.
6 . S EX EB IE EA , Poir.
1. Senebier.\ australis Hook, fil.; annua? parce patentim püosa, caulibus diffusis ascendentibus ramosis,
foliis subbipinnatifidis lobis incisis, süiculis longius pedicellatis majoribus did^Tnis le rite r reticulatis.
H a b . Chonos Archipelago ; C. Barwin, Psq.
Omnia S. pinnaUfda, sed racemis pediceUisqne longioribus, siliculis duplo majoribus leriterque reticulatis.
I bave examined specimens of S. pinnatifida, from vaiious pails both of North and South America, where it gi'ows
from Buenos Ayi-es in lat. 35° south, to Carolina in lat. 35° north ; and others from the old world, from the Cape of
Good Hope iu the same southera latitude, as far north as Gothland in Sweden, Qat. 58° .N). From whatever locality
I have received it, and however much the leaves may vary, the size of the süiculæ and theii- fom and reticulation
are constant, thi-ough twenty specimens gathered in as many different parts of Europe, Africa, and America ;
they do not approach the size of S. australis, though, except in size aud the less reticulated sui-face of the pods of
Chfiiau species, I can detect no diflerence of auy importance.
The existence of another species so nearly allied to S.piunaUfida, from the Chonos Archipelago, where we cannot
suppose it to have been introduced, is an argument iu favoiu of M. De Candolle’s conjectm-e, that S. pinnatifida,
though now abundantly diff'used tluoughout the warm and cultivated parts of Em-ope, Africa, aud both Americas,
is probably a native of the new world alone. It is impossible to say how fai- the S. pinnatifida may be naturalized,
even in the new world ; it seems remarkably plentiful at Buenos Ayres aud along that coast to South BrazU and
llio ; but I am not awai-e of its haring been found ou the western side of America, except at Talparaiso, aud near
Quito, whence Humboldt and Bonplaud’s specimens ai-e described by M. Kunth as S.pectinata.
On the East of North America, according to Torrey and Gray, S. australis inhabits only the Southem Lmted
States, growing in fields and along the banks of rivers. JI'Fadycn mentions it in his Flora of Jamaica, as au abimdant
native of that Island, iu common with many other cruciferous plants, whose recent introduction is fai- less equivocal.
The, parts of the old world inhabited by the S.pinnatifida, are strictly the Eastern, as is to be expected in an
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