CAMELINA SATIVA. CULTIVATED CAMELINA, OR
GOLD OF PLEASURE.
CAMELINA sativa ; siliculis obovatis marginatis, stigmate simplici, foliis lanc'eolatis sagittatis. B r .
CAMELINA sativa. Crantz Austr. fa s c . l.p . 17- (fide Smith) Pers. Syn. PL ml. 2.p . iy i . Alton
Hort. K m . ed. 2. ml. 4. p : 93.
MYAGRUM sativum. Linn. Sp. PI. p . 894. Huds. Angl. p. 277. Lig h tf. Scot. p. 336. Oed. FI.
Dan. t. 1038. Hoffm. Germ.p. 223. Willd. Sp. PI. m l. S .p . 408. Decand. FL Fr,
ed. 3. ml. 4 .p . 717. FI. Gall. Syn.p. 582.
ALYSSUM sativum. Scop. Cam. n. 794. Smith Fl. B rit. p. 679- Engl. Bot. t. 1254.
M OE N CH IA sativa. Roth Germ. ml. 2. p. 75. With. Bot. A rr, ed. 4. ml. 3 .p . 550.
ALYSSUM foliis sagittatis, siliquis cordiformibus. Hall. Helv. n. 489.
Bohem. Hubilen. Dan. Horrwrt. Vild H orr. Dut. Plaschdotter. Fr. Sesame d’Allemagne, oit
Balard. Germ. Der Liendotter. Hung. Gomborka. It. Port, et Span. Miagro. Pol. Krotoiax
Russ. Ryschik. Swed. Dodra. Dora.
Class and Ord er. TETRADYNAMIA SILIClTLOSA.
[N atural Ord e r . CRUCIFER.®. D iv . I I. S ILICULOS®, Puss. Decand.]
Ge n . Ch ar. Silicula subovata, polysperma: valvis ventricosis. Cotyledones incumbentes. Filamenta eden*
tula. B r .
Radix parva, fibrosa, annua.
Caulis pedalis et ultra, erectus, teres, foliosus, subpu-
bescens, superne paniculatim ramosus. ’
Folia glauco-viridia, distantia, biuncialia, alterna, lan-
ceolâta, subdentata, venosa, basi sagittata, am-
plexicaulia, inferiora scabriuscula.
F lores corymbosi, deraum racemosi.
Calyx foliolis erectis, ovatis, obtusis, viridibus, margi-
, ne albo.
P etala oblonga, basi attenuate, flava, venosa.
GERMEN oblongum. Stylus breviusculus. Stigma ob-
tusum, capitatum.
St am in a : Filamenta sex, simplicia, quorum duo mul-
to brcviora : Antheræ oblongæ, flavæ.
P erica rpium : Silicula erecta, ovata, marginata, glabra,
stylo silicula dimidio breviore terminata,
valvis ventricosis, basi apiceque attenuata. Dis-
sepimentum membranaceum, diaphanum, album.
Receptaculum filiforme, marginale.
Semina circiter sex loculo singulo, obovato-quadrata,
compressa, fusca, podospermis breviusculis al-
bis curvatis.
E mbryo conduplicatus. Cotyledones ovatæ, plano-con-
vexoe.
R adicula sursum flexa, dorso, non rirnæ cotyledonum
accumbens.
Root small, fibrous, annual.
Stem a foot high and more, erect, round, leafy, slightly
pubescent, above branched in a panicled manner.
Leaves glaucous green, distant,'two inches long, alternate,
lanceolate, slightly toothed, veined, sagittate
and amplexicaul at the base, the lower ones
roughish.
Flowers corymbose, at length racemose.'
Calyx with the leaflets erect, ovate, obtuse, green, the
. margin white.
P etals oblong, attenuate at the base, yellow, veined.
Germen oblong. Style shortish. Stigma obtuse, capitate,
•
Stamen s: Filaments six, simple, of which two are
shortish : Anthers oblong, yellow.
P erica r p : Silicule erect, ovate, margined, smooth, terminated
by the style twice as short as the silicule,
with the valves ventricose, attenuated a t the
base and at the extremity. Dissepiment membranaceous,
diaphanous, white.
Receptacle filiform, marginal.
Seeds about six in each cell, obovato-quadrate, compressed,
brown, with rather short white curved
seed-stalks.
Embryo conduplicate. Cotyledons ovate, plano-con-
Radicle bent upwards, applied to the back, not against
the opening of the cotyledons.
Fig. 1. Calyx. Fig. 2. Germen and Stamens. Fig. 3. Petal. Fig. 4. Capsule, nat. size. Fig. 5. the same
magnified. Fig. 6. Capsule with one valve separating, showing the disposition of the seeds. Fig. 7. Seed.
Fig. 8. Side view of the embryo. Fig, 9. Front view of ditto.—All but Fig. 4. more or less magnified.
Normanton, Derbyshire; Flax-fields about Bridport and Lyme, Dorset; Willington Ballast, Northumberland';
by the Horse and Groom near Lea Bridge (but scarcely to be called wild), the road-side a t Stoke Newington, at
Huntingdon and the Isle of Dogs, Middlesex; by the road-side out of St. Giles’s gates, Norwich; in a flax ground
a t Dingey, Northamptonshire; in Lakenheath field near Wangford, Suffolk; about Wimbledon Park, Surry;
among clover at Beverley and Heslington field near York .-—such are the stations hitherto recorded for this plant,
and from them, as may well be supposed, it can hardly be considered an aboriginal native of this kingdom. I t
cannot boast of any beauty, but is highly curious as affording an example in the embryo of what Mr. Brown terms
« cotyledones incumbentes,” in which the back of one of the cotyledons, not the edge as in most o f the order Cru-
cifera, is applied to the radicle; or, as Gajrtner expresses it, both in Erysimum cheiranthoides and Lepidium sativum,
“ radicula dorso, non rimte cotyledonum accumbens.”
There is a variety of this species with leaves dentato-sinuate, which is called Myagrum dent alum by Willdenow;
but it has not, to my knowledge, been found with us.
Camelina sativa in Germany and Flanders is cultivated for the sake of the oil expressed from the seeds, which
Haller says is not coagulated by any excess of cold, and is considered excellent to burn in lamps as well as to relieve
chapping of the skin. I t is also said to be very good for culinary purposes when fresh, but that it has the
disadvantage of soon becoming rancid.