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SISYMBRIUM sylvestre.
Creeping Water Rqpkef*
TETRADYNAMIA Siliquosa.
G en. Char. Pod cylindrical, bursting with nearly
straight valves. Cal. and Cor. spreading.
Spec. Char. Pods declining. Leaves pinnate ; leaflets
lanceolate, deeply serrated or cut.
Syn. Sisymbrium sylvestre. Linn. Sp. PI. 916. Sm.
FI. Brit. 701. Hull. ed. 2. 194. Huds. 2 96.
With. 581. Belli. 257. Sibth. 2 06. Abbot. 143.
Curt. Lond. fasc. 3. t. 4 1 .
Eruca aquatica. Raii Syn. 297.
G r R A V E L L Y moist situations p ro d u ce this p lant in various
parts o f E n g la n d . In T o th ill fields it abounds, as well as at
Battersea, Hamme rsmith , & c . flowering from Ju n e to S ep tember.
T h e root is pe rennia l, c re ep in g e xten s iv e ly , so th a t th e pods
s c a rc e ly e ver arriv e a t perfection. Stems erect, a foot or more
in h e igh t, le a fy , z ig z a g , a n g u la r , furrowed, ro u gh ish to the
to u ch . L e a v e s alternate, p in n a te , smooth ; the leaflets o f the
low er ones decurrent, e llip tic -o b lo n g , d e ep ly cu t or toothed ;
those o f the u p p e r ones narrower, d e ep ly , b u t sp a r in g ly , serra
ted , sometimes qu ite entire, and in some measure stalked.
C om m on footstalk channe lled. Clusters numerous, form ing a
k in d o f p an ic le about the tops o f the stems, e a ch o f them soon
leng thened o u t to a g r ea t e xten t, an d b e comin g z ig z a g . F low ers
o f a fu ll y e llow , rendering th e p lant conspicuous b y their
colour and abundance. S ty le short.