DIPSACE^— TEASEL TRIBE 117 



3. Sharp-fruited Corn-salad (F. mmcida). ^Frnit sub-globose, 

 crowned with the single entire or three-toothed limb of the calyx ; empty 

 cells rounded on the back, larger than the fertile one, inflated; flowers in 

 lax cymes. Plant annual. This species is very similar to the last, differing 

 from it chiefly in its broader and more inflated fruit and large empty cells. 

 It occurs occasionally on cultivated lands, flowering from June to August. 



4. Smooth Narrow-fruited Corn-salad {F. t/raW/a).— Capsule egg- 

 shaped, somewhat flat, 2-ribbed in front, and sharply pointed, crowned with 

 the small, unequally-toothed calyx; root annual. This plant has a great 

 number of varieties, which, differing as to the form, or in the smoothness or 

 hairiness of the capsule, have been described by some botanists as so many 

 species. It occurs in corn-fields and on hedge-banks, but is not a common 

 plant, except in the west of England. Its flowers are of a pale flesh-colour, 

 usually in corymbs, with a solitary blossom seated in the forks of the stem. 

 It is a less tender plant than the Corn-salads usually are, and its flowers 

 appear in June and July. 



5. Hairy-headed Corn-salad (F. eriocarpa). — This species, which was 

 formerly regarded as a variety of F. dentata, much resembles it, but the 

 cymes are more crowded, the fruit generally clothed with short, spreading 

 curved hairs. The chief diflerence, however, is found in the large, slightly 

 oblique calyx, which is bell-shaped. It flowers in June and July, and has 

 been recorded from Cornwall, Dorset, and Worcester. 



Order XLV. DIPSACEiE— TEASEL TRIBE. 



Calyx superior, surrounded by several more or less rigid involucral 

 bracts ; corolla tubular, with 4 — 5 unequal lobes ; stamens 4, the anthers 

 not united ; style 1 ; stigma not cleft ; fi'uit dry, 1-seeded, often crowned 

 by the pappus-like calyx ; flowers in heads. The plants of this order are all 

 herbaceous or under-shrubs. They are chiefly natives of the south of 

 Europe, Barbary, the Levant, and the Cape of Good Hope, rarely growing 

 on mountains. Their properties are not remarkable, and the Fuller's Teasel 

 is the only plant of any great importance, though some species of Scabious 

 possess a small degree of astringency. 



1. Teasel (Dipsacns). — Heads with numerous general bracts at the base ; 

 outer calyx (involucel) forming a thickened margin to the fruit ; inner cup- 

 shaped, entire ; receptacle with rigid awns ; fruit with four sides. Name 

 from the Greek dipsao, to thirst, because the leaves hold water. 



2. Scabious {Scalndsa). — Heads with numerous general bracts at the 

 base ; outer calyx membranaceous, and plaited, inner of 5 bristles ; receptacle 

 scaly ; fruit nearly cylindrical. Name from the Latin scabies, the leprosy, 

 liecause some of the species were used as a remedy for that disease. 



3. Knautia {Knautia). — Heads with numerous general bracts at the 

 base ; outer calyx minute, with 4 small teeth, inner cup-shaped ; receptacle 

 hairy; fruit 4-sided. Name in honour of Christopher Knaut, a German 

 botanist. 



