708 ASTERACEiE. [Epigynous Exogens. 



of some the root abounds iu gum, and in many the seeds are oily and purgative, 

 without a trace of the aroma so genially prevalent in the Order. 



Centaurea Calcitrapa, and especially Cnicus Benedictus, have been used as febrifuges, 

 and it is asserted, with great success, though they are now banished from general 

 practice. Similar qualities have been assigned to many others, especially to the Bar- 

 danas or Burdocks, Lappa minor and major ; of these plants the root is reckoned 

 tonic, aperient, sudorific, and dim'etic ; it has been used in the form of decoction in 

 rheumatism and diseases of the skin ; Sir Robert Walpole praised it as a gout medicine, 

 and others have considered it an excellent substitute for Sarsaparilla ; the fruit, which 

 is bitter and slightly acrid, has been used as a diuretic. 



Carhna acauUs, a meadow plant with a very short stem and large flower-heads, con- 

 spicuous for the long rays of the shining involucre, was formerly used in magical 

 incantations ; its bark abounds in resinous matter, and a strong-scented, bitter, caustic 

 oil, which acts as a drastic purgative. Another species, Carlina gummifera, the l^ia or 

 l^iur] of the ancients, has from time immemorial been employed as an anthelmintic ; 

 its gi'eat fleshy root and its flower-heads also ^^-ield a gum which hardens into tears like 

 jNIastich ; when fresh, the root is said to be noxious to both man and beast, but the 

 fleshy receptacles are preserved with honey or sugar, and eaten. Similar quahties are 

 found in an Arabian plant, supposed to be allied to Cardopatum corymbosum, whose 

 roots are sold in the shops of the continental nations, under the name of Costus. But 

 Dr. Falconer has ascertained that the Costus of the ancients is the root of his Aucklandia 

 Costus, a plant inliabiting the moist open slopes sm'rounding the valley of Cashmere, 

 at an elevation of 8000 or SOOO feet above the level of the sea. The roots have a strong 

 aromatic pungent odour, are regarded as aphrodisiacs, and are burnt as incense in the 

 temples. In Cashmere the plant is not held iu repute as a medicine, but is chiefly 

 employed for protecting bales of shawls from the attacks of moths. The modern 

 Arabians consider the root of the Artichoke (Cjiiara Scolj-mus) an aperient : they call 

 the gum of it Kunkirzeed, and place it among their emetics. Some of this race are 

 used by dyers. Safflower, employed to produce a beautiful pink dye, and in the 

 preparation of rouge, is the di'ied flowers of Carthamus tinctoi'ius ; its seeds are 

 purgative, and have been used in dropsical cases. Serratula tinctoria also furnishes 

 a yellow or green dye. The flowers of Calendula officinalis, or Pot Marigold, are 

 used to adulterate Saffron ; it was formerly cultivated as an aperient and sudorific, but 

 is now forgotten. We leam from Col. Sykes that the seeds of Carthamus persicus 

 produce a useful oil, edible when fresh ; that they are eaten whole as food in times 

 of scarcity, and also the leaves as greens ; the oil-cake of this plant is said, on the 

 same authority, to be highly nourishing to milch cattle. 



Few of the Labiatifloral Sub-order appear to be of any importance. The leaves of 

 Printzia aromatica are used at the Cape of Good Hope as a substitute for tea ; those of 

 Anandria discoidea are mucilaginous and bitter, and ai'e employed in China in dyspnoea, 

 as those of Tussilago Farfara have been iu Europe ; Trixis brasiliensis is taken in 

 decoction as a remedy for excessive menstruation ; Moscharia pinnatifida smells of 

 musk, and Flotovia diacanthoides forms a small tree with a hard white wood. 



The Ligulifloral genera are of far more importance. In all cases they abound in a 

 milky, bitter, astringent, or narcotic juice. Among the bitters the most useful is 

 Chicory, Cichorium Intybus, whose tap roots are cultivated as a substitute for Coffee, 

 which they certainly improve when torrefied and added m small quantities. 



Taraxacum Dens Leonis, the common Dandelion (Dent de Lion), appears to be of 

 considerable medicinal importance as an anodyne, deobstruent, aperient, and diuretic ; 

 in cases of chronic diarrhoea it has been found very useful, according to Mr. Houlton. 

 M. Polex has obtained from it Taraxacine in arborescent or star-shaped crystals. — 

 Pharm. Jouni. 1. 425. Nabalus serpentaria and albus are two North American plants, 

 whose bitter milky roots are held in repute as a remedy for Rattlesnake bites ; Mul- 

 gedium floridanum is called, because of its bitterness. Gall of the Earth. The Lettuces, 

 Lactuca, are all narcotic ; Lactuca vu'osa, Scariola, and sylvestris jdeld an extract 

 resembling opium in its qualities ; the garden Lettuce, L. sativa, furnishes the narcotic 

 drug called Lactucariiun. But, according to Aubergier, the best Lactucarium is 

 obtained from Lactuca altissima. — Comptes R. xv. 923. A similar gum, which they 

 call KoWa, is obtained in Lenmos from Chondrilla juncea. In a few species the juice 

 is acrid. Zacyntha verrucosa is used in the ]\Iediterranean as a phagsedenic, and Cre- 

 pis lacera is held in the kingdom of Naples to be a venomous plant. 



In a small number of species of this Order nutritive matter is collected in sufficient 

 abundance to render them worthy of notice as esculents. The most important in that 

 way are Cardoons, the blanched leaf-stalks and stems of Cynara Cardunculus ; Artichokes 

 obtained from the succulent receptacles of Cynara Scolymus ; Scorzonera and Salsafy, 

 the roots of Scorzonera hispanica and Tragopogon poiTifolius ; Endive, the blanched 

 leaves of Cichorium Endivia ; Succory, a similar preparation of Cichorium Intybus ; 



