118 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



SPECIES!.— CYNOGLOSSUM OFFICINALE. Lina. 



Plate MCXVIII. 



BeicJi. Ic. Fl. Germ, et Helv. Vol. XVIII. Tab. MCCXXX. 

 Billot, PI. GaU. et Germ. Exsicc. No. 2888. 



Radical leaves elliptical or lanceolate-elliptical, attenuated into rather 

 long petioles ; stem leaves crowded, strapshaped or narrowly lanceolate ; 

 the lower ones shortly stalked, the intermediate ones narrowed towards 

 the base, the uppermost ones semi-amplexicaul. Racemes commonly 

 without bracts. Calyx segments ovate, obtuse, shorter than the corolla. 

 Nucules with a prominent margin thickly studded with stout hooked- 

 pointed spines ; the disk of the face also sparingly armed with hooked 

 spines. Whole plant, especially the racemes and calyces, densely 

 clothed with short silky cottony hairs, soft to the touch. 



Var. a, genuinum. 



Leaves softly pubescent on both sides, greyish green, and dull 



above. 



Var. 3, suhglahrum. 



Leaves nearly glabrous, green and shining above. 



In waste places, by the borders of fields and roadsides, and on sand 

 hills by the seashore. Rather rare. Generally distributed in England. 

 Thinly spread over the south of Scotland, where it seems to be most 

 plentiful along the east coast, and certainly indigenous in Haddington 

 and Fife ; in Aberdeenshire, Ross, and Moray it occurs, though it is 

 believed to be an introduced plant in these localities; it is repoi'ted 

 by Lowe as found in Orkney, but I never saw it there or was able to 

 hear of its recent occurrence. Rare in Ireland, and confined to the 

 south and east. The var. is reported by Dr. Bromfield to occur in 

 several places in the Isle of Wight. 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Biennial or Perennial. ( ?) Spring, 



Summer. 



Root a thick, fleshy, tapering tap-root with a black rind, producing 

 the first year a tuft of radical leaves on rather long stalks, with the 

 lamina 4 inches to 1 foot long. In the succeeding year the flowering 

 stem is produced, which is stout, stiff", round, 1 to 3 feet high, branched 

 in the upper part, and very thickly clothed with leaves. Lower stem 

 leaves attenuated into a petiole at the base; the upper ones sessile, 

 shorter, and rather broader in proportion. Racemes in a pair at 

 the extremity of the stem, and solitary at the apex of the branches, 

 lengthening in fruit until they are from 4 to 8 inches long. Pedicels 



