406 Order 69.— DIPSACB^E. 



calyx. — (g) Plants stout, prickly. Lvs. opposite, connato (sometimes 

 distinct) at base. Heads oblong, the middle zone of florets first ex- 

 panding. (Fig. 206.) 



1 D. sylvestris Mill. 'Wild Teasel. Lvs. connate, sinuate- or jaggod; hda 

 cylindrical; bracts of the involucre longer than tho heads of lis., slender and 

 pungent, beut inwards; chaff of the receptacle pungent, not hooked. — -V tall, this- 

 tle-like plant, growing in hedges and by roadsides, Mass. to Ind. St. about 4f 

 high, angled and pricky, with the opposite, lance-shaped lvs., united .around it 

 Fls. bluish, in a large oval, or cylindrical head whoso bracts arc not hooked, a3 

 in the next species, but straight. Jl. § Eur. 



2 D. Fulldnum L. Fuller's Tkasel. Lvs. connate, cntiro or serrate; hd. 

 cylindrical ; brads Iwoked ; invol. spreading. — Gardens, lit. fleshy, tapering. St. 

 erect, farrowed, prickly, hollow, about 5f high. Lvs. 2 at cac'.i node, united at 

 their bases around the stem in such a way a? to hold a quantity of water. Fls. 

 whitish, in large oval or ovoid heads. Cultivated for tho use of tho clothiers 

 (fullonum) who employ the heads with their hard, hooked scales to raise the nap 

 upon woolen cloths. Jl. % Fur. 



2. SCABIO'SA, L. Scabisii. (Lat. scabies, leprosy ; plants said to 

 cure cutaneous diseases.) Flowers in heads ; involucre many-leaved ; 

 involucel nearly cylindrical, with 8 little excavations ; calyx limb con- 

 sisting of 5 set;c, sometimes partially abortive. — If. Large, mostly Euro- 

 pean herbs with opposite lvs. 



1 S. succisa L. Devils'-bit. lit. prcmorsc ; st. lvs. remotely toothed, hda. 

 of lis. nearly globous ; cor. in 4 equal segments. — In gardens, though rarely cul- 

 tivated. The stem is about If high. Corolla violet, f Eur. 



2 S. atroptirpurea L. Mournixg Bride. Lvs. piunatitid and incised, lids- 

 of lis. radiant; receptacle cylindric ; outer crown cf tho seed short, Lbod and 

 cronate. — A beautiful species, 2 tJ 4f high, with dense heads of purple fls. f 

 Native country unknown. 



* 

 Order LXX. COMPOSITE. Asterworts. 



Plants herbaceous or shrubby, with compound flowers (of the old botanists) i. a, 

 the flowers in dense heads (capitula) surrounded by an involucre of many braces (scales), 

 with 5 united anthers and the fruit an achenium (eypsela). Leaves alternate or oppo- 

 site, exstipulate, simple, j'et often much divided. Fls. (florets) oo, crowded, sessilo, 

 on the receptacle with or without pales (efiaft"). Cal. adherent, the limb wanting or 

 divided into bristles, hairs, etc. (pappus). Cor. tubular, of 5 lobe3 with a marginal 

 vein, often ligulato or bilabiate. Stam. 5, alternate with tho lobes ot' tho corolla, 

 anthers cohering into a tube. Ov. 1 -celled, with 1 erect ovule; style single with 2 

 Stigmas at summit. Fr. a eypsela (§ 557), dry, iudehiscent, 1-secded, often crowned 

 with a pappus. 



Illnstratol in fles. 55. 118. 141. 142, 145, 146, 170, 192, 193, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, C24, 828, 329, 

 830. S3 1, 332. 333, 364, 379, 416, 434. 



Genartt 1000 or more, spetties 9000? the most extensive and the most natural of all the Fhmn- 

 gamotis Orders, always distinguished at sight by the capitate flowers and the united anthers. 

 It comprehends nearly one-ninth of all the species of flowering plants. The general inflores- 

 cence is centrifugal, that is. the central or terminal heads are first developed, while the inflor- 

 escence of tho heads is centripetal, the outer flowers first expanding. In color the flowers aro 

 various; sometimes those of the disk and ray are of different colors, again they arc all of tho 

 the same, but in the former ease the disk florets are almost always yellow. 



This immense order is diifused throughout all countries of the glolie, hut in very different 

 proportions. According to [lumbolt, they constitute about one-seventh of the I'liienogamoua 

 Flora of Germany, one-eighth, of France, one-fifteenth, of Lapland, otu'-sixth, of North America 

 (north of Mexico), and one-half, of Tropical America. In New Holland they are in the propor- 

 tion of about one-sixteenth, according to Brown, while in th« island of Sicily they are one-half. 

 The LiguliflorB are said to lie most abundant in cold regions, and tho TnbnllfloriG in hot regions. 

 The Labiatitlora? are almost exclusively confined to South America. In the northern parts of 

 the world the Composite are universally herbaceous, but towards the tropics they gradually 

 become I'rutescent and even trees. In Chili they are generally shrubs, and on the island of St. 

 Helena they a:e trees. 



Properties, din. — The Composite furnish comparatively few useful products. A bitter prin- 

 ciple pervade- the whole, which, when combined with resin and astringent inulilage, become* 



