376 Mr. C. C. Babington on the British species of Arctium. 



of the preceding. Central stem usually nodding and as well as 

 the branches producing scattered shortly stalked heads forming 

 an irregular raceme, on the lower or later branches the heads 

 are often nearly sessile ; the terminal head solitary. Heads about 

 half the size of those of the preceding species and greener than 

 in it ; the amount of web very variable. Phyllaries green, some- 

 times slightly tinged with purple ; the hooked points yellow ; 

 inner row purple at the end, gradually narrowed into a rigid 

 subulate point but not hooked, alone converging over the fruit ; 

 the others mostly patent or a few of the outer ones dellexed. 

 Fruit fuscous with black blotches, rugose towards the top. 



The small spherical heads of this plant, about the size of a 

 hazel-nut, readily distinguish it from A. intermedium; as do 

 their size, their short stalks, and their racemose arrangement 

 even upon the central inclined stem, from A. tomentosum. The 

 very large corymbosely arranged heads of A. majus clearly point 

 out that plant as distinct from A. minus. The much larger 

 hemispherical and long-stalked heads separate A. pubens from it. 



Although the typical state of A. minus is very different from 

 A. tomentosum, it is difficult to find any character by which they 

 may be at all times certainly distinguished. There is a difference 

 in the shape of the florets : those of A, minus although thick in 

 their upper part do not enlarge so suddenly as those of A. to- 

 mentosum, nor do they contract upwards as in it. It is probable 

 that A, minus never has corymbosely arranged heads ; that they 

 are always small and shortly stalked ; that the florets are deci- 

 duous so as to leave the tops of the fruits uncovered: that 

 A. tomentosum always has its central stem erect and corymbose, 

 although the branches have the heads arranged in racemes ; that 

 the heads are usually large and those in the corymb have long 

 stalks ; that the florets are usually so persistent as to hide the 

 ripening fruit; that the phyllaries of the innermost row are 

 usually almost wholly membranous and blunt with an excurrent 

 midrib. 



A, minus is probably common, but the distribution of all the 

 species requires to be carefully determined. 



My specimens are from Madingley, Cambridgeshire ; Stone- 

 leigh, Warwickshire ; Mordiford, Herefordshire ; St. Aubin's, 

 Jersey ; and I have ascertained that it grows near Saffron Wal- 

 den, Essex ; Bluntisham, Hunts ; Buntingford, Herts ; and Swan- 

 sea, Glamorgan. 



Note. — The A. Bardana of my former paper (Ann. Nat. Hist. 

 Ser. 1. iv. 255) includes A. tomentosum and A. minus, 



5. A. pubens; heads subracemose stalked hemispherical and open 

 in fruit much webbed (green) ; phyllaries equalling the florets 



