Keyed Out #117 — Hesperis matronalis

Question 1

Four separate {petals} spread in an even cross above six {stamens}, four of them tall and two short.

Accepted Answer

mustard family

Question 2

As each flower fades it hands over a long, slender, two-valved {silique} that splits away from a thin papery {replum}, leaving the seeds in a row.

Accepted Answer

Brassicaceae

Question 3

By day the pale cross-flowers seem almost scentless, but as dusk falls they pour out a sweet perfume that draws night-flying moths.

Accepted Answer

Hesperis

Question 4

Its ripe pods are long, slender, pencil-like {silique}s, several times longer than wide, not short flat rounded coins.

Accepted Answer

Hesperis

Question 5

Its stem leaves are set singly, one to each node and alternating up the stem, not borne in facing pairs two to a node.

Accepted Answer

Hesperis matronalis

Question 6

Each leaf is a single undivided blade, lance-shaped and evenly saw-toothed along its edge, not carved into several separate leaflets down a shared stalk.

Accepted Answer

Hesperis matronalis