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Raphanus (Old Greek name used)

(the old Greek name used by Theophrastus, connected with the Latin rapum). Including Raphanistrum. ORD. Cruciferae. A genus comprising about half-a-dozen species of hardy, annual or biennial, branched herbs, natives of Europe and temperate Asia. Flowers white or yellow, purple-veined, slenderly pedicellate; sepals erect, lateral ones sub-saccate at base; racemes elongated, terminal and opposite the base; racemes elongated, terminal and opposite the leaves, ebracteate. Pods elongated, erecto-patent. Lower leaves lyrate. Root often succulent. R. caudatus furnishes long, edible pods. For culture and general remarks, see Radish.

R. caudatus (tailed). fl. purplish and veined, the size of those of the common Wallflower. May to August. Pods depressed, acuminated, longer than the whole plant. Stems purplish, with a glaucous hue, at first erect, then prostrate. Commonly cultivated in Western India, said to be a native of Java, 1815. Annual. (R. G. 594.) R. sativus (cultivated). Common Garden Radish. fl. varying from white to pale violet, with strong, dark-coloured veins, moderate-sized, borne on a round, erect and branching stem, about 3ft. high. May. Seed-pods smooth, ending in a beak. l. rough, lyrate, or partly divided into transverse segments, the outer one largest and broadest. Root reddish-purple, white, yellowish, or deep brown, fusiform, semi-globular, or turnip-shaped. Annual. This is a native of temperate regions of the Old World, but, since remote historical times, it has been widely cultivated, and is now naturalised in many countries. Some botanists (Bentham, Hooker, and others) regard R. sativus as a form of R. Raphanistrum.