Centaurea COMPOSIT/E. 



157 



a. calyx clabrous. A. Lappa, E. Bot. t. 38. E. Fl. v. iii. p. 



380. 



/;. calyx with a cobweb-like down. A. Bardana, JVilld.— 

 E. Bot. i. 2478. E. EL v. iii. p. 381. 



Waste places and way-sides, common. Fl. July, Aug. $ — Three 

 feet or more high, lludical leaves very large, and often slightly toothed. 

 Involucre with hooked scales which fasten themselves most pertina- 

 ciously to clothes and the coats of animals when they come in contact 

 with them. These scales are sometimes glabrous, and occasionally 

 have a more or less cottony substance interwoven with them ; whence 

 two species have been established by some authors. Flowers purple. 



26. Centaurea. Linn. Knapweed, Blue-bottle, Star-thistle. 



Involucre imbricated. Receptacle bristly. Pappus simple or 

 none. Corollas of the ray funnel-shaped, irregular, longer 

 than those of the disk. — Name ; with this plant it is said the 

 Centaur, Chiron, cured himself of a wound received in the 

 foot from Hercules. Syngenesia. Frustranea. 



1. C. Jacea, Linn. Brown radiant Knapweed. Scales of 

 of the involucre radiant, torn, the outer pinnatifid ; leaves 

 linear-lanceolate, the lower ones broader and toothed ; flowers 

 radiant; pappus very short, in a single row. Br. Fl. 1. p. 3G8. 

 E. Fl. v. iii. p. 465. E. Bot. t. 1678. 



In a field near Belfast, very sparingly ; Mr. Ternpleton. Base of 

 Carig mountain, near Kenmare ; Doctor Taylor. Dry gravelly bank, 

 near Enagh Lough, County of Deny ; Mr. D. Moore. Fl. Aug. 

 Sept. %. — Lower haves obovato-lanceolate, petiolated, the upper ones 

 entire, sessile. Scales of the involucre pale brown, shining, the outer 

 ones deeply pinnatifid, the inner or uppermost torn. Florets very nu- 

 merous, spreading, purple. 



2. C. nigra, Linn. Black Knapioeed. Scales of the invo- 

 lucre ovate, fringed with capillary teeth ; lower leaves angular, 

 lyratc; upper ones lanceolate; ray wanting; pappus very 

 short, tufted. Br. FL 1. p. 368. E. FL v. iii. p. 465. E. Bot. 

 t. 278. 



Meadows and pastures, frequent. Fl. June — Aug. %. — Stem 2 — 3 

 feet high. Leaves scabrous. Scales of the involucre almost black, 

 the teeth brown. Florets purple, numerous, all fertile. 



3. C. Cyanus, Linn. Corn Blue-bottle. Scales of the in- 

 volucre serrated ; leaves linear, entire, the lowermost toothed. 

 Br. FL 1. p. 368. E. FL v. iii. p. 466. E. Bot. t. 277. 



Corn fields. Fl. July, Aug. ©.—Two or three feet high, covered 

 with a loose cottony down, especially on the stems and the undersides 

 of the leaves. Florets of the disk small, purple ; those of the ray 

 few, larger, bright blue, spreading. Scales of the involucre greenish, 

 the margin brown. In gardens where it is much cultivated it varies 



