144 COMPOSITE. [Erigeron. 



one short, cup-shaped, membranous, toothed : inner long, 

 rough. Flowers yellow. — Name ; pulex, a flea, an insect 

 which this plant is supposed to drive away by its powerful 

 smell. Syngenesia. Superflua. 



1. P. dysenterica, Cassini. Common Flea-bane. Leaves 

 oblong, downy, clasping the stem with their heart-shaped 

 base; stem woolly, panicled ; scales of the involucre bristle - 

 shaped, hairy. Br. Fl. 1. p. 363. — Inula dysenterica, Linn. — 

 E. Fl. v. iii. p. 440. E. Bot. t. 1115. 



Moist and watery soils, common near Dublin and many other 

 places. Fl. Aug. %. — About a foot high, terminating in a corymb of 

 yellow flowers. Linnaeus, in Fl. Suec. ed. 2. p. 294, records, on the 

 authority of General Keith, that it cured the Russian army of dysentry 

 — hence the specific name. 



5. Aster. Linn. Starwort. 



Involucre imbricated, the lowermost scales spreading (except 

 in A. Tripoliuni). Receptacle naked. Pappus sessile, sim- 

 ple. Florets of the disk yellow, of the ray purple or white. 

 — Name ; Aster a star, which the flowers resemble. 



Syngenesia. Superflua. 



1. A. Tripolium, Linn. Sea Starioort. Herbaceous, co- 

 rymbose ; leaves lanceolate, entire, fleshy, smooth, obscurely 

 3-ribbed ; scales of involucre obtuse, somewhat membranous. 

 Br. Fl. 1. p. 362. E. Fl. v. iii. p. 436. E. Bot. t. 87. 



Salt marshes, frequent. Fl. Aug. Sept. %. — One to two feet high, 

 somewhat glaucous. Flowers rather large, disk yellow, rays blue, in 

 some flowers wanting. 



6. Erigeron. Linn. Flea-bane. 



Involucre imbricated with numerous linear scales. Receptacle 

 naked. Florets of the ray numerous, very narrow, (mostly 

 of a different colour from the disk.) Pappus simple. — 

 Name; cpi, early, and <yepu>v, an old man: from the bald 

 heads of the receptacles, after the flowers and fruit have 

 fallen. Syngenesia. Superflua. 



1. E. acris, Linn. Blue Flea-bane. Stem nearly racemose ; 

 stalks mostly single-flowered ; leaves lanceolate or tongue- 

 shaped, sessile ; radius erect, scarcely taller than the seed 

 down. Br. Fl. 1. p. 358. E. Fl. v. iii. p. 442. E. Bot. 

 t. 158. 



Dry gravelly pastures and old walls. Gravelly banks near the 

 Grand Canal, a mile from Lucan ; banks of the Dodder above Tem- 

 pleogue, and various other places. Fl. Aug. $. — One foot high or 

 more ; whole plant scabrous, hispid, erect, panicled above and leafy. 

 Flowers pedunculated, from the axils of their leaves, and terminal. 



