THE DAISY FAMILT. 311 



The coltsfoot is one of the earliest and prettiest flowers of the new year, coining 

 when the poplars begin to redden, and the honeysuckles to grow green, and the 

 voice of the throstle waxes plentiful and joyous, 



" And Winter, slumbering in the open air, 

 Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring." 

 The blossoms are of a light but agreeable yellow, the ray-florets as slender as 

 needles, and the flower-stalks downy and covered with scales, by which it is 

 immediately distinguished from the dandelion, the stem of the latter being per- 

 fectly smooth. The heads di'oop after blooming, but as soon as mature, erect 

 themselves again, and turn into spheres as soft and shining as the whitest satin. 

 They are ripe just about the time of the blossoming of the yellow broom. 



46. Golden-rod — {SoUddgo Virg-aiirea.) 

 Hedgebanks, thickets, and in dry woods, loving the shelter of furze 

 and other bushes. Plentiful at Bowdon, Mobberley, and at Irlam's- 

 o'th' -Height. Fl. July— October. 



E. B. V. 301 ; Baxter, iii. 238. 

 One of the most she^vy of the English composites, blooming abundantly and 

 spiritedly, but without ostentation. 



47. Common Groundsel — {Senecio vulgaris.') 

 Everywhere as an ineradicable weed, and flowering, more or less, 



all the year through. Annual. 



Curtis, i. 61 ; E, B. xi. 747. 



48. Heath Groundsel — [Senecio sylvdticus.) 



On dry hedgebanks, especially upon the borders of cultivated moor- 

 land, and Avhere furze, brake, or similar plants have been cut and 

 burnt the previous autumn. Plentiful on the edges of Ashton Moss. 



Fl. July, August. Annual. 



E. B. xi. 748. 



49. Common Ragwort — {Senecio Jacobcea.) 

 Roadsides and in waste ground, everywhere. Fl. July — October. 



E. B. xvi. 1130. 

 About Lymm this ubiquitous weed is called " Kadle-dock." It is a plant of 

 remarkable powers of endurance, flourishing on arid ground where other things 

 are overpowered by the sun, yet bearing the cold of autumn witli indiflerence, and 

 lasting in copious bloom tiU the end of November. The leaves are distinguished 

 from those of all our other native composites by the crispy and waved margins of 

 their numerous lobes. 



50. Fe"W-flowered Ragwort — [Senccio aquaticus.) 

 Moist waysides, common everywhere. Fl. July, August. 

 E. B., xvi. 1131. 



