40 Composites. [B/dens. 



S. Acmella, L. Syst. Veg. ed. 13, 610 (1774). Akmella, S. 

 Herni. Mus. 17. Burm. Thes. 58. Fl. Zeyl. n. 309. Moon Cat. 57. 

 Thw. Enum. 165. C. P. 684. 



Fl. 1). Ind. iii. 307. Wight, Ic. t. 1109 {S. cahni). 



Annual, stems prostrate or ascending, much branched, 

 cylindrical, more or less hairy; 1. opp., \-\\ in., ovate, suddenly 

 tapering at base, acute, famtly and irregularly serrate, glabrous 

 or nearly so, thin, somewhat 3-nerved, petiole long, slender, 

 pilose ; heads apparently terminal really axillary, on long 

 glabrous peduncles, ovate-ovoid, bracts leafy, lanceolate, sub- 

 acute, pilose; cor.-tube short, lobes triangular; achene oblong, 

 dark brown, dull. 



Moist places up to 6000 ft.; common. Fl. all the year; yellow. 



All Tropical countries. 



S. pseudo-Acine/la, L., is generally referred to this by authors, but it 

 is not now possible to say what was meant by that name. (See under 

 We del ill btJJora.) 



The heads have a hot, pungent taste, and in a large variety {S. 

 oleracca^ Jaccj.), often found in gardens, this is more strongly developed 

 and gives it, from its use, the name of 'Toothache plant.' I hav^e seen 

 no ray-flowers in the Ceylon plant, nor any pappus. 



Synedrella nodiflora, Gaertn., a Mexican plant, is occasionally found 

 as a weed. It is C. P. 3839, and the Xit>ie7tesia encclioides of Thw. 

 Enum. 422 (non Cav.). It has occurred about Trincomalie and abun- 

 dantly at Bentota, by the river, and has lately become a troublesome 

 weed at Peradeniya. 



Cosmos bipinnatus, Cav., is a frequent weed in waste ground, often in 

 great quantity ; and C. sulfureiis^ Cav., is less frequently found in similar 

 places. Both are Mexican annuals, no doubt originally introduced as 

 ornamental garden plants. 



26. BIDEMS, L. 



Annual, 1. opp., compound ; heads solitary, few, terminal, 

 moderate-sized, involucre cup-shaped, bracts in 2 rows, outer 

 leaf)-, spreading, connate at base, inner membranous, receptacle 

 flat or slightly concave with linear bractlets; ray-fl. in one 

 row, ligulate, female, disk.-fl. tubular, bisexual ; anth.-bases 

 sagittate, style-arms of bisexual fl. acute, hairy; achene very 

 narrow, compressed, pappus of 2-4 rigid bristles. — Sp'. 50 ; 3 

 in Fl. n. Ind. 



*B. pilosa, L. sp. PL 832 (1753). Wal-t^-kola, .<^. 



B. i/it>te/!S!s, Willd., Moon Cat. 57. Thw. Enum. 165. C. P. 3630. 



Fl. B. Ind. iii. 309. 



Annual, stem 2-3 ft., erect, quadrangular, thickened at 

 nodes, glabrous or nearly so, with long opp. branches ; 1. 



