COMPOSITE 



93 



North America. The forewings are brown, with 

 broad white ramifying streaks, and the hindwings 

 are red, with blue-black spots. The abdomen is 

 also red with black spots. 



The Sow-thistle (Sonchus oleraceus) is a common 

 weed, much taller than the Dandelion, though the 

 yellow flowers are smaller, and stand several to- 

 gether at the end of a hollow stem 2 or 3 feet 

 high. The borders of the leaves, the leaf-stalk and 

 stem are more or less prickly, and the plant when 

 bruised exudes a bitter milky juice, like the 

 Dandelion. 



Botanists distinguish nearly a hundred British 

 species of Hawkweed (Hieracium), most of which 

 bear yellow or (more rarely) reddish flowers, very 

 like those of the Dandelion, but smaller, and the 

 flower-stalks, which are either single, as in the 

 Dandelion, or radiating from a stem, as in the 

 Sow-thistle, are slender, solid, and often more or 

 less hairy. 



The Chicory (C ichor ium Intybus) has a branching 

 bristly stem 2 feet high, bearing large flowers on the 

 sides and extremities of the branches, resembling 



those of the Dandelion, but of a bright blue. It 

 grows on waste ground, and the large perennial 

 tap-root is used to adulterate coffee, a mixture which 

 some people prefer to genuine coffee. It is con- 

 sidered to increase appetite and aid digestion. 



To the Composite the numerous species of 

 Thistles belong, easily known from other plants 

 by their prickly stems and leaves, large flowers, 

 generally red, and the conspicuous pappus, or 

 thistledown, which, like that of the Dandelion and 

 other plants of this Order, may often be seen 

 floating in the air, or resting on the ground, some- 

 times at a considerable distance from the plant 

 which produced it. Hence the rapidity with which 

 these plants with wind-borne seeds spread. 



The last British composite plant we propose to 

 notice here is the Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), a 

 common plant in fields and on waste ground, 

 with a creeping perennial root, very tough short 

 branches, with much divided leaves, and clusters 

 of small white or pink flowers. 



Asters, Dahlias and many other garden plants 

 also belong to this Order. 



