COMPOSITE. 180 DIPSACUS. 



1. DI'PSACUS. 



Flowers in heads; involucre many -leaved ; involucel 4- 

 sided ; caljx superior ; corolla tubular, 4-cleft ; fruit 1-seed- 

 ed, crowned with the calyx. 



Gr. di-iyxKOi, teasel, from oiiyaa), to thirst, in allusion to the water which 

 collects in the axils of the concave leaves. This water once had a reputation 

 as a cosmetic. Large, biennial herbs, hairy or prickly. Leaves opposite, 

 connate (sometimes distinct) at the base. Outer lobe of cor. largest. Fil. 

 longer than cor. Sty. equal to the cor. 



1. D. sylve'stris. 



Leaves connate, sinuate or jagged; /teatZ*^ cylindrical ; iraris of the involucre 

 longer than the head of flowers, slender and pungent, bent inwards. A tall, 

 naturalized, European plant, growing in hedges and by road-sides. Stem 

 about 4 feet high, angled and prickly, with the opposite, lance-shaped leaves 

 united around it. Flowers bluish, in a large oval or cylindrical head whose 

 bracts or scales are not hooked as in the next species, but straight. July. 



IVild Teasd. 



2. D. FULLONUM. 



Leaves connate, entire or serrate ; head cylindrical ; bracts hooked ; involu- 

 cre spveadmg. A cultivated, European plant. Root fleshy, tapering. Stem 

 erect, furrowed, prickly, hollow, about 5 feet high. Leaves two at each node, 

 united at their bases around the stem in such a way as to hold a quantity of 

 vifater. Flowers whitish, in large, oval or ovoid heads. It is cultivated for 

 the use of the clothiers {fullotuuii), who employ the heads witli their hard, 

 hooked scales to raise the nap upon woollen cloths. For this purpose they 

 are fixed around the circumference of a revolving drum. Flowers in July. 



Fuller's Teasel. 



Senhiosa is another genus of tiiis order, consisting of coarse, hardy plants ' 

 with aggregated flowers, a few of which, as .5'. succisa, witli a premorse root 

 and equal blue flowers; S. otropurpurea, with deep, dark purple flowers in 

 radiant heads ; S. stcUata, with sky blue flowers in radiant heads^ are rarely 

 found in cultivation. 



ORDER LXXVi. COMPOSITJJ:. The Aster Tribe. 



Flowers collected into a dense head (capitum), upon a common receptacle, surrounded by 



an involucre of many bracts (scales). 

 CaX. — Closely adherent to the ovary, tlie limb wanting, or membranaceous and divided in- 

 to pate, bristles, hairs, &c. called /)a;7/jKS. 

 Por. — Superior, consisting of 5 united petals, either ligulate or tubular. 

 Sta. — 5, alternate with the lobes of the corolla. Anth. cohering into a cylender. 

 Ova. — Inferior, 1-celled, 1-ovulcd. Style 2-cleft, the inner margins of the branches occu- 

 pied by the stigmas. 

 Fr. — An acheniura, dry, indehiscent, 1-seeded, crowned with the pappus. 



This is the most extensive and most natural of all the orders of the vegetable kingdom, 

 always distinguished at sight by the capitate flowers and the united anthers. It compre- 

 licnds about one tenth of the species of flowering plants. They are mostly herbs, (rarely 

 shrubs or trees), with alternate or opposite leaves, which are generally simple. The gen- 

 eral inflorescence is centrifugal, tliat is, the central or terminal heads are first developed, 

 while the inflorescence of the heads is centripetal, the outer flowers first expanding. In 

 color the flowers are various ; sometimes those ot' the disk and ray are of dilferent colors, 

 again they are all of the same, but in the former case the disk florets are almost always 

 yellow. 



