NEILGHERRY PLANTS. 15 
ranges of the south while the other two are confined to the north. The genus generally is of extra tropical 
origin, Europe, Asia Minor, and North America being the regions in which the species principally abound. 
The Neilgherry species is also t met with on the Pulney range and I think on the Sherveroy hills, but of that 
I am not quite certain. 
CiRsIUM ARGYRACANTHUM (D.C.) leaves semi-am- = Very common on ane Sing qe about equally so 
plexicaul serrately pinnatifid, ciliato-spinulose, the on the Pu Iney mo In moist rich soil it not 
lobes ending in strong nae ; beneath andthe stem unfrequently asain the height of 6 or 7 feet. It may 
arachnoideo-villous : capitula pone f -congested: be met with at most seasons in flower, but is in = 
bractese many cleft very Brey scales of the inyolu- fection in August and ore oa ay Flowers pale p 
crum terminating in strong spines.—D. Ce . 2.6. 640. ple. 
Tribe Cichoracex. capitula homogamous flowers all ligulate 5-toothed 
or 5-nerved. Style cylindrical above and, with its more or less elongated some- 
what obtuse branches, equally pubescent : the stigmatic series of glands ending about 
the middle of the Branches no where confluent. Herbaceous, rarely shrubby, milky 
plants with alternate leaves. 
This is a very distinct and generally most easily recognised tribe and the plants 
so constant in these floral characters that, once known, it is scarcely possible afterwards to 
mistake them. To this tribe belongs the well known Lettuce, Sow Thistle, Hawks-weed, 
Dandelion, Goats’ beard, Succory, &c., most of them to be met with on the hills either wild or 
in gardens. The number of genera referred by DeCandolle to this tribe is 83, some of 
which, however, it appears to me, might well be dispensed with. Of these 83 genera I 
have species indigenous to India, but on this point I feel some uncertainty exists, as I cannot 
help thinking that DeCandolle has, while elaborating this last tribe of his great work, 
fallen into one or two errors which seem to cast a shade of doubt over some other parts of 
this division. ‘Lhe plant for example, which I have here called Microrhyncus, is described 
under Lactuca by D.C. the former having 5 angled beakless achznia the latter having them 
compressed and abruptly terminating in a filiform beak. Again, I find Luctuea Heyneana 
agrees much better with the character of Brachyramphus than with that of Lactuea whence 
I feel disposed to infer that the whole of D. C.’s section ‘ Mycelis” of Lactuca would be 
better placed under Brachyramphus which has a short beaked, muricated, achenium in op- 
position to the long-beaked smooth one of Lactuca. 
The properties of this tribe are peculiar, the species are all milky and many of them 
possess well marked narcotic qualities such as the Lettuce and Succory, though not to such 
extent as to unfit them for esculents when properly cultivated and used young and succu- 
lent. In Europe the chicory is cultivated for the sake of its tap roots which are used asa 
substitute for coffee and are said certainly to improve that most agreeable beverage when 
properly torrified and mixed in small quantities. ‘The scorzonera and salsafy are also cul- 
tivated for their roots, the latter of which especially, furnish a fine flavoured vegetable. 
Several others enjoy considerable reputation in domestic medicine in Europe, but being un- 
known in India need not be noticed here. 
The two plants selected to illustrate this tribe are referable to two sub-tribes 
Lactucee and Hieraciee, the distinction between which is mainly derived from the 
