# The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage/Part I/Cruciferae

II.CRUCIFERÆ, Juss.
1. Cardamine hirsuta, L.; var. subcarnosa; glabra, floribus majusculis, petalis albidis purpureisve, stylis brevibus latis, stigmatibus subsessilibus.
Hab. Campbell's Island; very common on grassy banks from the sea to an altitude of 500 feet.
Abundantly gathered and used as a salad by the officers of the ships, its succulent leaves being an excellent antiscorbutic. A very dwarf hairy state of this is common among the rocks close to the sea, having the flowers always purple. Except in the very fleshy leaves, and, occasionally, coloured petals, this is in no way to be distinguished from the ordinary states of C. hirsuta, and especially from Cape Horn and Falkland Island specimens, in which the style and stigmata are variable both in length and breadth; in the large size of the petals it agrees with Icelandic and other hyperborean specimens. My friend Mr. H. C. Watson agrees with me in considering that no specific difference exists between this plant and our English C. hirsuta, though they grow nearly at the antipodes of each other. Of the stigmas in the European form, he observes, "they are broader ​than the pods when in an early stage, but as the latter approach maturity, the stigmas shrink and dry. This change is not uniform in all English specimens."
2. Cardamine corymbosa, Hook. fil.; hirsutula v. glabra, caulibus perbrevibus rigidis ad basin ramosis, ramis gracilibus flexuosis diffusis parce foliosis, foliis longe petiolatis pinnatisectis, foliolis 3–5 subpetiolulatis rotundatis terminali majore, lateralibus remotis sæpe minutis, floribus corymboso-fasciculatis axillaribus v. terminalibus, corymbis nunc proliferis, pedicellis brevibus demum valde elongatis, siliquis anguste linearibus in stylum brevem attenuatis, replo angusto, valvis planis, stigmate minuto.—Hook. fil. in Icon. Plant, vol. vii. pt. 2. tab. 686.
Hab. Campbell's Island; on turfy ground near the sea, common.
Radix perennis, e fibris crassis, subfusiformibus, albidis, ramosis, descendentibus. Tota planta pilis sparsis patentibus hirsuta et ciliata, v. glabra. Caulis perbrevis, crassiusculus, albidus, rigidus, fragilis, fere ad collum ramosus; ramis 2–4 uncias longis, teretibus, gracilibus, patentibus, adscendentibus, subproliferim divisis. Folia perpauca, radicalia subnulla; ramea remota, longe petiolata, pinnatisecta; foliolis 3–5, rotundatis seu late ovatis obovatis cordatisve, integerrimis, petiolulatis, terminali majore 3–4 lin. longo, lateralibus remotis sæpe minutis. Petioli graciles, 1–2 unciales, basi dilatati. Flores parvi, corymboso-fasciculati, axillares et terminales, nunquam, etiam fructiferi, racemosi. Pedicelli quandoque in axillis solitarii, primum brevissimi, demum valde elongati, unciam sesquiunciam longi, patentes. Sepala elliptica, ovata, venosa, purpurascentia. Petala calycem duplo superantia, obovato-spathulata, venosa, alba. Siliqua erecta, gracilis, stricta v. paululum curvata, ½–⅔ unciam longa, anguste linearis, compressa, apice in stylum brevem crassiusculum subulatum attenuata. Stigma obtusum, vix stylo latius. Semina uniseriata, fusca. Cotyledones obovatæ. Radicula clavata.
This is a small and very distinct species of Cardamine, wiry and fragile in every part. The stems are short, or rather, at once, after springing from the collum, divided into spreading, ascending, filiform branches, with few and small leaves; and with corymbs, or more correctly speaking, fascicles of flowers, which at no period seem to constitute a raceme. Sometimes even the flower is solitary and axillary; generally several spring together from the side or apex of a stem, subtended by a leaf; sometimes a pedicel appears proliferous, running out into a stem and bearing a fascicle or corymb and a leaf at its apex: so that the inflorescence has little the appearance of that of a cruciferous plant.
3. Cardamine depressa, Hook. fil.; glaberrima, subacaulis, foliis confertis plerisque radicalibus longe petiolatis undique patentibus obovato-spathulatis obtusis inferne sinuato-lobatis, racemis breviter pedunculatis corymbosis petiolo brevioribus, siliquis longe pedicellatis erectis linearibus compresso-tetragonis stylo brevi attenuato mucronato terminatis. (Tab. III.)
Var. β. acaulis; foliis flaccidis tenui-membranaceis longissime petiolatis integris v. inferne subdentatis.—Tab. IV. B.
Hab. Lord Auckland's group; in gravelly moist places near the sea amongst grass. β. In clefts of rocks, alt. 1200 feet.
Radix brevis, subfusiformis, valida, fibrosa, superne multiceps. Caules brevissimi, ramis abbreviatis foliosis. Folia numerosa, conferta, undique patentia, v. superiora suberecta, petiolata, obovato-spathulata, glaberrima, subcarnosa, sinuata v. lobata lobis obtusis, rarius integra, una cum petiolo 1 unc. longa, 3–4 lin. lata. Flores parvi, subcorymboso-racemosi. Racemi abbreviati, plerumque e collo ipso orti, foliis 1–2 subtensi, terminales, rarius, ob ramos subelongatos, axillares, petiolo multo breviores. Pedicelli floriferi brevissimi; fructiferi elongati, graciles, adscendentes, 3 lin. ad ¾ unc. longi. Sepala concava, ovato-oblonga, obtuse trinervia. Petala anguste spathulata, albida, calycem plus duplo superantia. Filamenta compressa, inferne dilatata. Siliqua erecta, ½–1-pollicaris, ¾ lin. lata, pedicello longior v. subæquilonga, linearis, compresso-tetragona, valvis ​planis v. subtorulosis medio uninerviis; replo latissimo; stylo brevi angusto; stigmate parvo. Semina sub 20, testa rufo-fusca.
A very distinct species, which will come under the small section with undivided leaves, to which also the C. bellidifolia, L., of Northern Europe, belongs; a plant to which the present is unquestionably nearly allied. In both these species the leaves vary much, being sometimes, but rarely, almost entire in this, whilst in the C. bellidifolia they are more seldom sinuate or lobed. The very great breadth of the septum, which is winged on both sides, and forms an acute angle with the valves, is a most remarkable character, peculiar, as far as I am aware, to this and the following species; at times it is almost as broad as the valves themselves. In South America this form is represented by C. chenopodiifolia, Pers., which is however a larger and caulescent plant, with very conspicuous showy flowers,—a similar species, or perhaps variety, inhabits the Andes of Chili, at an elevation of 10,000 feet. The var. β was gathered in a very imperfect state with young flowers only. In general appearance it differs much from the normal form of the plant, and more especially in the flaccid membranous texture, long petioles, with shorter, rather broader, and nearly or quite entire leaves. It may prove distinct, but the specimens are not in a fit state for satisfactory determination.
Plate III. Fig. 1, flower; fig. 2, sepal; fig. 3, petal; fig. 4, stamens and ovarium; fig. 5, stamen; fig. 6, siliqua; fig. 7, side-view of same; fig. 8, siliqua, with valve removed; fig. 9, seed; fig. 10, embryo:—more or less magnified.—Plate IV. B. var. β.
4. Cardamine stellata, Hook. fil.; parva, acaulis, piloso-hispida, foliis confertis stellatim patentibus longe petiolatis elliptico-spathulatis integris v. inferne sinuato-pinnatifidis, floribus corymbosis, corymbis sessilibus, pedicellis gracilibus, siliquis abbreviatis linearibus compresso-tetragonis, replo latissimo, stylo brevi subulato. (Tab. IV. A.)
Hab. Campbell's Island; on the débris at the base of precipices in very exposed places.
Planta pusilla, depressa, plagæ inclementis typica, tota pilis albidis subhispida. Radix perennis, ad collum crassa, deinde fusiformis et fibrillosa. Caulis 0. Folia omnia radicalia, numerosa (circiter 15–20), horizontaliter et undique stellatim patentia, longe petiolata, una cum petiolo ½–1 unc. longa, 2–3 lin. lata, ciliata, subcarnosa, e petiolo sensim dilatato-spathulata, v. elliptico-oblonga, obtusa, integra v. basi sinuato-lobata, seu pinnatifida, lobis obtusis. Flores corymbosi. Pedicelli elongati, e pedunculo brevissimo inter folia radicalia orti, hinc scapos sæpe simulantes, sub 3 lin. longi, erecti; fructiferi magis elongati. Sepala lineari-oblonga, obtusa, 3-nervia, extus pilosa. Petala ½–¾ lin. longa, obovato-spathulata, albida, calyce paulo longiora. Antheræ dorso glandula parva. Siliqua parva, erecta, ¼ unc. longa, pedicellum subæquans, compresso-tetragona, recta v. paululum curvata, pilosa v. glabra, gradatim in stylum angustum acuminata; valvis planis medio uninerviis; replo latissimo ut in C. depressa. Semina quoque loculo 6–8, rufo-fusca.
The habitat of this plant is remarkable, as it grows only in the most exposed situations on the weather shores, about 100 feet above the sea. In the form of the leaves it resembles the C. pusilla, Hochst., an Abyssinian species, but these are here more crowded and spathulate, and the inflorescence is quite different. The siliqua, though shorter, has very much the same form as that of C. depressa.
Plate IV. A. Fig. 1, flower; fig. 2, sepal; fig. 3, petal; fig. 4, stamens; fig. 5, siliqua; fig. 6, seed:—all magnified.