27. COMPOSITE. 



77 



neck at the summit, and then widened into an awned cnp ; 

 fruit small, dry, 1-celled and 1-seeded, crowned by the 

 calyx-limb and enclosed in the persistant involucel. 



1. SCABIOSA, L. 



(Supposed in olden days to cure the itch, Latin scabies.) 



1. Scabiosa lYiarititna, L. Annual or peren- 

 nial, sometimes 1 m. ("^ ft.) liiij;h, hairy or almost glabrous, 

 branching dichotomously ; radical leaves stalked, oblong, 

 crenately incised, the middle ones pinnatisect, or lyrate 

 with the terminal lobe pinnatifid, uppermost leaves entire 

 or toothed, or pinnatisect with linear lobes : flowering heads 

 hemispherical, becoming ovoid or oblong in fruit, on long 

 peduncles, flowers in vary- 

 ing shades from dark- 

 purple to white; corolla 

 with 5 unequal lobes, the ^^, 

 outer ones radiating 

 volucral 

 unequal. 



in- 



bracts lanceolate, ^t^ 

 finally recurved : 

 receptacle conical with 

 ciliate scales ; involucel 

 oblong. subquadr angular, 

 with 8 ribs, which an 

 downy in the lower part, 

 and a short, scarious, 

 crenate crown bent in- 

 wards; calyx-limb stalked, 

 surmounted by o reddisl 

 spreading awns and sur- 

 rounded by a sheath, the 

 lower part of which is 

 combined with the invo- 

 lucel. 



The variety with invo- 

 lucral bracts nearly as 

 long as the flowers, which 



are purple, or rarely pink or white, is S.^itropiiipnien, L. 

 (Sweet Scabious, Purple Pincushion), which ha.s long been 

 cultivated in gardens, and is probably the origin of our 

 plant. 



Roadsides, fields, gullies, near Adelaide and in the 

 hills. — Nov. -Mar. — Mediterranean region. 



Family 27.— COMPOSIT/E. 



Flowers sessile and collected together on a common 

 receptacle in heads surrounded by an involucre of several 

 bracts; receptacle naked or furnished with bracteoles 

 (scales), which wrap the base of the bud ; calyx-tube com- 

 bined with ovary, the limb consisting of a ring of hairs or 

 scales called a pappus, or of a short border or crown, or 



Scabiosa maritima. 



