NAT. ORDER. 



Compositm. 



INULA HELENIUM. ELECAMPANE. 



Class XIX. Syngenesia. Order II. Polygamia Superflua. 



-, Gen. Char. Receptacle naked. Down simple. Anthers ending in 



two bristles at the base. 



Spe. Char. Leaves stem-clasping, ovate, wrinkled, tomentose under- 

 neath. Scales of the calyx ovate. 



The root is perennial, large, thick, branched, externally brown or 

 grey, internally whitish ; the stalk is upright, strong, round, striated, 

 branched, covered with soft hairs, and rises from three to four feet in 

 height ; the leaves are large, ovate, serrated, crowded with reticular 

 veins, and supplied with a strong fleshy midrib ; the pagina superior 

 smooth, the inferior downy ; the leaves placed upon the upper part 

 of the stem are sessile, and surround the branches, those near the bot- 

 tom stand upon footstalks; ihejlowers are large, yellow, and terminate 

 the stem and branches ; the calyx is composed of several rows of 

 strong imbricated ovate segments ; the corolla consists of numerous 

 florets, which are of two kinds; those occupying the centre are of 

 regular tubular form, divided at the brim into five small segments, and 

 are hermaphrodite, each containing five short filaments, which have 

 their anthers so united as to form a hollow cylinder, and a long ger- 

 men, which supports a slender style, about the length of the tube, and 

 furnished with a bifid stigma ; the Jlorets at the circumference are 

 female, at the lower part tubular, but at the upper ligulated or strap- 

 shaped, and cut at the extremity into three narrow pointed teeth \ the 



