440SYNGENESIA— POLYGAMIA.-SUPERF.Inula. 



erect, lanceolate, downy, membranous at the edges, and finely 

 fringed. Marginal florets from 6 to 10, elliptic-oblong, un- 

 equally 3-toothed, spreading ; in decay becoming revolute and 

 tawny J d/'sA; prominent. 5eec/s minutely hairy. Down rough. 



When bruised, the whole herb smells like Wild Carrot. Its qua- 

 lities are astringent, perhaps tonic, and it has been recom- 

 mended as a vulnerary, both externally and internally. 



What the above variety /3, gathered by Sherard in Ireland, may be, 

 I have not precisely ascertained. Its short description in Ray's 

 Synopsis answers very nearly to y, which Hudson and Willde- 

 now reckoned a permanent species, but which I could never de- 

 termine to be so. J is merely a dwarf variety, growing, accord- 

 ing to Dillenius, on barren sandy hillocks, and not much like 

 S. minuta of Linnaeus, whose synonyms are greatly confused, 

 but which seems, by the original specimen, a variety of <§. Vir- 

 gaurea. Swiss specimens of S. Virgaurea, in the collections of 

 Reynier and Davall, are even more various than those of Bri- 

 tain, especially in the size of their Jlowers. 



401. INULA. Elecampane, and Flea-bane. 



Linn. Gen. 426. Jwss. 181. Fl. Br. 890. Lam. t. 680. Gcertn. 

 t.]70. 



Nat. Ord. see w. 396. 



Commofi Cal. hemispherical, imbricated; scales loosely 

 spreading at the points, various in form and proportion. 

 Cor. compound, radiant, broad ; Jlorets of the disk very 

 numerous, perfect, tubular, with 5 equal, upright or 

 spreading segments; those of the radius nuraei-ous, crowd- 

 ed, hgulate, linear, 3-toothed. Filam. in the tubular flo- 

 rets only, thread-shaped, short. Antli. united into a cy- 

 lindrical tube, with 5 sharp teeth at the summit, and 1 

 straight bristles at the base, equal in length to the fila- 

 ments. Germ, in all the florets fertile, oblong. Style 

 thread-shaped, cloven. Stigmas spreading, oblong, ra- 

 ther obtuse. Seed-vessel none, but the unaltered calyx. 

 Seed linear, quadrangular. Dowi simple, sessile, as long 

 as the seed, or longer, Recept. nearly flat, either quite 

 naked, or slightly scaly. 



A numerous genus, tolerably natural, well marked by the 

 bristles at the base of the anthers. The roots are for the 

 greater part perennial. Ston erect, simple or branched. 

 Leaves simple, undivided, moi'e or less downy, rarely 

 quite smooth. FL large, yellow. Qualities aromatic, 

 bitter^ often mucilaginous. 



