( 3027 ) 
ScorzONERA MOLLIS. Sort Viper’s-Grass. 
KEKE KEKE EEE EEER 
Class and Order. 
SyNGENESIA AUQUALIs. 
( Nat. Ord.—Composirz. Div. Cicnoracea. ) 
Generic Character. 
Involucrum imbricatum squamis latiusculis. Recepta- 
culum nudiusculum. Pappus plumosus, sessilis v. stipi- 
tatus. . 
Specific Character and Synonym. 
Scorzonera * mollis ; caule uni- trifloro foliisque lineari- 
subulatis canaliculatis involucroque pubescenti-tomen- 
tosis, radice tuberosa. OF te fae 
- Scorzonera mollis. M. Bieb. 
Descr. Root a large, and almost woody tuber, more or 
less lobed. Stem woody below, in the wild specimens very 
short and single-flowered, in the cultivated ones elongated, 
(a span high) branched, three to four-flowered, woolly, 
glaucous. Leaves crowded at the base, remote upwards, 
~ Tinear-subulate, often recurved, deeply canaliculate, downy, 
especially beneath, almost cobwebby, glaucous-green, ex- 
ternally striated, the margin of the lower leaves brown. 
~ Peduneles lateral and terminal, slightly thickened upwards, 
cobwebby. Involucre cylindrical, of few large, closely im- 
bricated scales, the lower ones the most downy. Corollas 
linear obtuse, five-toothed, not numerous, the tube long, 
hairy 
* The word Scorzonera owes its origin to scurzon, (the Catalonian name 
for a Viper,) this plant passing in Spain for an assured remedy against the 
__ bite of that reptile. There is reason to fear, however, that the form of the 
__ Foot, often resembling a serpent, has had some share in causing this belief. 
