Malcolmia
(named after William Malcolm, a London nurseryman, who published a Catalogue of Green-house Plants in 1771). ORD. Cruciferae. A genus consisting of about twenty species of hardy, mostly annual herbs, many of which are very variable in habit, &c. They are found in the Mediterranean and Caspian regions, Persia, North Africa, and North-west India. Flowers white or purple. Leaves alternate, entire or pinnatifid. M. maritima, the well-known Virginian Stock, is of extremely easy culture in almost any soil or situation. Seeds should be sown, thinly, from early spring until the latter part of autumn. The other species require similar culture.
M. chia (Chian). fl. purplish-lilac, about half the size of those of M. maritima; racemes three to nine-flowered. June. l. pubescent beneath, entire or rarely toothed; lower ones obovate or spathulate; stem ones narrower and more acute. Stems much-branched, 6in. to 12in. high. Chio, 1732. (S. B. F. G. 40.) M. littorea (seashore). fl. bright pink-purple, large, delicate; limb of petals not veined as in M. maritima. June to November. Pods hoary. l. lanceolate-linear, almost entire, hoary with short down. h. 6in. to 12in. Mediterranean region, &c., 1683. (B. M. 4672; S. B. F. G. i. 54.) M. maritima (sea).* Virginian Stock. fl. lilac, rose, red, or white; pedicels bractless, disposed in racemes. Spring to autumn. l. elliptical, blunt, entire, narrowed at the base. Stems erect, branched. h. 6in. to 12in. Europe, &c., 1713. A very pretty annual, of which there are several varieties.