1902-1903.] Teasels^ 55 



amply protected from the assaults of grazing animals by the 

 long quill-like spine which projects from beneath each floret, 

 as well as by a general covering of very long bracts, well 

 armed with spines standing up all round the head. They are 

 closely allied to composite plants, but differ particularly in 

 each flower of the head possessing a kind of outer calyx, and 

 in the stamens, four in number, being free, — an important 

 distinction from the composites, in which the stamens are 

 joined by their anthers. There are only three species of 

 teasel in the British flora : the small teasel, or shepherd's rod 

 {Dipsacus pilosus) ; the common or wild teasel {D. sylvestris) ; 

 and the fuller's teasel {D. Fullonum). 



The small teasel is not uncommon in England, but is absent 

 from both Scotland and Ireland. It has large roundish root- 

 leaves, and a slender, slightly spiny stem, two to four feet 

 high. The leaves of the stem are smaller, and usually with a 

 pair of leaflets at the base. The flower-heads are white and 

 globular. 



The common or wild teasel {D. sylvestris) is the best known 

 and most abundant. Its natural home is on rough dry banks, 

 among brambles and tall grass, growing to upwards of six feet 

 in height. It is abundant on the Blair braes, between Dysart 

 and the Wemyss ; but coal-mining and increasing population 

 have tended to its diminution. D. sylvestris is the only species 

 native in Scotland, but in many parts is only introduced. It 

 is certainly a native of Fife, where it has been growing for 

 centuries, and where it occurs from Alloa to St Andrews. It 

 is rarer on the south side of the Forth. Sibbald records it 

 from a brae below Abercorn Castle in 1588, Greville says it 

 was got on the south side of Duddingston Loch, and Wood- 

 ford records it from the Pentlands west of Colinton. It is 

 said to have been found on Arthur's Seat and at Musselburgh, 

 but during the last twenty years I have not observed it in 

 flower in the county. The plant is a biennial, and a rosette 

 of stalked, coarsely toothed, lanceolate leaves is all that makes 

 its appearance the first year. In the second year, with its 

 tall showy stem and pink flowers, it is a very conspicuous 

 plant. Each of the small pink flowers is succeeded by a 

 single seed, which is angular, and crowned with a rim that 

 once was the calyx. The leaves are opposite, and united at 



