HOARY RAGWORT 205 
in a state of protection, and are not so liable to be browsed as in 
fields, where they likewise grow. 
This is a taller plant than Groundsel, and the stem is rigid, simple 
or branched, purple, and woolly. The stem is both angular and fur- 
rowed. The leaves are alternate, much divided, with linear segments, 
half-clasping, with stiff hairs below, or white, the lower leaves stalked, 
turned back. 
The flowers are rayed, in corymbose heads. The leaf-like organs 
are membranous at the mar- 
gin with hairy tips, the outer 
half as long as the inner. 
The fruit is silky with hairs 
that do not fall out. The 
hoary character by which it 
is partly distinguished is most 
marked when the plants are 
young, and in wooded and 
hilly stations, a feature which 
in moist soil is lost, as also 
when it is cultivated. 
This plant is about 2 ft. 
in height as a general rule. 
The flowers are in bloom in 
July and August. The plants 
are propagated by division, 
being perennial. 
The ray florets are large 
and give the plant a con- 
spicuous appearance. Other- 
wise the arrangements are haiaieas 
as in Senecio vulgaris, Ce pkestea 
though the heads are much 
larger, and the plant is more likely to be visited by insects. 
The fruits are provided with pappus, and adapted for wind 
dispersal. 
Hoary RaGwort (Senecio erucifolius, L.) 
This Composite is mainly a sand-preferring species addicted to 
a sandy soil, but may also be found on clay soil. 
The fungi Bremia lactuce and Colesporium senecionts are found 
upon the leaves. The Lepidoptera, the Feathered Ranunculus (Z/- 
unda lichenea), Cinnabar (Euchelia jacobee), Argyrolepia rugosana, 
Calosetia nigromaculana, and a fly, Sprlographa zoe, feed on it. 
