1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Candytuft

CANDYTUFT (Iberis amara, so called from Iberia, i.e. Spain, where many species of the genus are native, and amara, bitter, i.e. in taste), a small annual herb (natural order Cruciferae) with white or purplish flowers, the outer petals of which are longer than the rest. It is a native of western Europe and found wild on dry soil in cultivated ground in the centre and east of England. This and several other species of the genus are known as garden plants, and are of easy culture in ordinary garden soil if well exposed to sun and air. The common candytuft of gardens is I. umbellata, a hardy annual, native of southern Europe, and known in a number of varieties differing in colour of flowers. I. coronaria (rocket candytuft) has long dense heads of white flowers and is also an annual. Some species have a shrubby growth and are evergreen perennials; the best-known is I. sempervirens, a native of southern Europe, a much-branched plant about a foot high with long racemes of white flowers. I. gibraltarica is a showy, handsome half hardy evergreen.