92 



BRITISH FLOWERING PLANTS 



or the stings of insects, but in some persons causes 

 irritation of the skin. 



There are many interesting British plants of this 

 Order with yellow flowers. The Groundsel (Senecio 

 vulgaris) is common on waste ground, or as a 

 garden weed, and grows about a foot high. It is 

 a branching plant with yellow flowers, generally 

 without a ray, and the seeds are surmounted by 

 a silken pappus like that of the Dandelion, but 

 much smaller. This plant is much used for feeding 

 canaries. 



The Ragwort (Senecio Jacob cea) is a much larger 

 plant belonging to the same genus, with branching 

 stems 2 or 3 feet high, and yellow flowers, sur- 

 rounded by a yellow ray. It is generally found 

 growing in or near woods, or in hilly districts. 

 The plants will often be found to be attacked by 

 the gregarious caterpillars of the Cinnabar Moth 

 (Euchelia Jacobcece). These are black, conspicuously 

 banded with orange ; and the moth has black 

 forewings, with two crimson longitudinal stripes, 

 and two large spots of the same colour beyond, 

 and crimson hindwings with narrow dark borders. 



It measures about an inch and a half in expanse. 

 It flies by day, and is not uncommon. 



One of our commonest composite flowers besides 

 the Daisy is the Dandelion {Taraxacum officinale)', 

 and, unlike the Daisy, it grows as freely in North 

 America as in Europe. The leaves are long and 

 large, generally more or less divided ; the root is 

 thick and perennial, and the flowers are large, of a 

 bright yellow, and are succeeded by a large downy 

 pappus over the seeds. The flowers are supported 

 on long, hollow stalks, and the whole plant exudes 

 a bitter milky-white juice when bruised. The root 

 is sometimes used to make a sort of imitation 

 coffee, and the young leaves can be eaten as salad, 

 tasting something like Lettuce, which also belongs 

 to the ComposiUe. 



The Woolly Bear, a large black caterpillar with 

 long black and reddish hair, tipped with white, 

 which rolls itself into a ball when disturbed, feeds 

 on Dandelion, and on a great variety of other low 

 plants. It is the caterpillar of the Tiger Moth 

 (Arctia caj'a), a moth two or three inches in 

 expanse, which is common both in Europe and 



