AsTERALEs.] ASTERACE^. 705 



other plants of the Labiatiflorae and Senecionideto have been found to bear similar 

 hairs, and among them the common Groundsel, Senecio vulgaris, whose acha^nia are 

 clothed with them. — Ann. Nat. Hist. 6. 258. 



All parts of the world contain Composites, but in very different proportions. 

 According to the calculations of Humboldt, they constitute \ of the phtenogumous 

 plants of France, i of Germany, -Jj of Lapland ; in North America ^, within the'trojjic.s 

 of America ^ ; upon the authority of Brown, they only form -^ of the Flora of tho 

 north of New Holland, and did not exceed ^ in the collection of plants formed by 

 Smith upon the western coast of Africa in" Congo. — Congo, 44.5. In Sicily they con- 

 stitute rather more than ^ (Prcsl.) ; the same proportion exists in the Bajearic Islands 

 (Cambessedes) ; but in ]\Ielville Island they are rather more than ^ (Brown), a propor- 

 tion nearly the same as that of the tropical parts of New Holland. It does not, there- 

 fore, appear that Composites, as an Order, are subject to any very fixed ratio of increase 

 or decrease corresponding with latitude. But much remains to be learned upon this 

 subject. It is certam that Cichoracese are most abundant in cold regions, and Corym- 

 biferae m hot ones ; and that while in the northern parts of the world Composites'are 

 universally herbaceous plants, they become gradually frutescent, or even arborescent, 

 as we approach the equator ; most of those of Chile are bushes, and the Composites 

 of St. Helena are chiefly trees. The Bilabiate genera are ahiaost entirely American, 

 and from the southern provinces beyond the tropics. 



De Candolle gives the following as the result of his examination of the natural habit 

 of Composites : — Out of 8523 of which he had any knowledge 1229 were annuals, 243 

 biennials, 2491 perennials, 2264 under-shrubs from 1 to 3 feet high, 366 shrubs from 4 

 to 15 feet high, 72 small trees, 4 large trees above 25 feet high, 81 woody plants of 

 which nothing further was known, 126 twiners or climbers, and 1201 about which 

 nothing certain could be ascertained. These were distributed as follows : 347 in the 

 South Sea Islands, 2224 in Africa, 1827 in Asia, 1042 in Europe, and 3590 in America ; 

 of these the Cape of Good Hope possessed 1540, Mexico 725, Brazil 722, United States 

 and Canada 678, the Levant 610, the Continent of India 681, north and middle Europe 

 447, Europe at the ]\Iediterranean 595, Australia 294. — See this author's Collection dcs 

 Memoires, No. X. 



M. Lasegue estimates (Mibsee Dekssert, 1 845) the number of Composite plants at 

 9500, and remarks "that they have steadily continued to constitute about ^^^ of all 

 described plants, in proportion as our knowledge of species has advanced. Thus 

 Linnreus had 785 Composites out of 8500 species ; in 1809 the proportion was 2800 

 to 27,000; De Candolle described 8523 in the year 1838, which was again a tenth; 

 and now that the estimate of species has risen to 95,000, Composite plants amount to 

 9500." 



The uses to which Composites have been applied are as numerous as their forms ; 

 but the species have considerable resemblance ui the natm'e of their action. In former 

 editions the statement made by De Candolle in his celebrated Essai stir les Proprittes dcs 

 Plantes, was taken as the basis of an enumeration of them ; it has however been much 

 improved by others, and especially by Endhcher, whose account m the Enchiridion is 

 here followed with some additions and alterations. 



A bitter matter, combined with astringency, an acrid resinous substance, and some 

 ethereal oil, to which in certain species is superadded starch in the roots, are the usual cha- 

 racteristics of Tubuliflorffi, some of which are tonics, others stimulants, others astringents, 

 according to the peculiar manner in which those substances are combined. 



Among tonic, bitter, aromatic medicines the Artemisias are more especially deserving 

 of notice, the various species having been employed in medicine from the most remote 

 antiquity. Of these, Wormwoods are the most celebrated ; they derive their Engh.'^h 

 name from their employment as vermifuges, and are included in the .species A. Absm- 

 thiura and pontica ; Southernwood, a fragrant plant, used on the Continent m makuig 

 beer, is the A. Abrotanum ; TaiTagon, celebrated for its excellence in pickles, and m the 

 medication of vinegar, is the A. Dracunculus ; A. Mutellina, an Alpine plant, is mtei-me- 

 diate in quaUty between Tarragon and Wormwood : it and A. spicata, anotlier Alpuie 

 species, furnish between them the bitter aromatic liqueur called Cr<}me d'Absmtho ; A. 

 acetica, a Persian species, is reported to have the odour of strong vmegar. A. cluncnsis 

 and other species yield the Moxa of China, a substance which is used as a cauteij, Dy 

 burning it upon parts affected with gout and rheumatism. The leaves of A. maderas- 

 patana are esteemed by the Indian doctors a valuable stomachic niedicme ; they are al.so 

 sometimes used in antiseptic and anodyne fomentations. A. mdica is considered m 

 India a powerful deobstruent and antispasmodic The flower-heads of "\«."y y^-J'^'; "< 

 Artemisia constitute the drugs called Semen contra, or Senien Cmoo, ^'™'»"f^?' "^ " "^^ 

 activity. Those which form the principal part of this substance are A- ^»^^en, Ler- 

 cheana. Contra and pauciflora. The flower-heads of A. Vahhana also furnish one of the 



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