136 COMPOSITJE 



varies very much in height, being in some cases but a few inches, in others 

 more than two feet high. 



2. Rough Hawk's-beard (C. biennis). — Leaves rough, pinnatifid, with 

 the lobes pointing backwards, uppermost lanceolate, clasping and toothed ; 

 involucre downy, outer scales very narrow and lax ; fruit oblong, with smooth 

 ribs, longer than the pappus ; root biennial. This plant is very rare, but it 

 occurs on dry pastures in the mid and eastern counties of England, as well 

 as in the neighbourhood of Aberdeen and Dublin. The flowers are larger 

 than those of the last species, and the pappus which succeeds them is white 

 as snow. The stems are from two to four feet high, and furrowed, and the 

 plant blossoms in June and July. 



3. Small-flowered Hawk's-beard (C. pulchra). — Leaves downy, 

 toothed, those from the root oblong, and tapering into a foot-stalk, the rest 

 arrow-shaped and clasping; panicle spreading; fruit about as long as the 

 pappus, faintly marked with lines. This plant has small yellow flowers on 

 an erect and downy stem. It was said to have been discovered by G. Don, 

 on the Hills of Turin and Pitsandy, near Forfar, but no other botanist has 

 ever found it there. 



4. Succory-leaved Hawk's-beard (C. succiscefdlia). — Leaves oblong, 

 blunt, nearly entire and smooth, lower ones narrowing into a foot-stalk, upper 

 ones sessile and somewhat clasping; flower-stalks and involucres glandular 

 and hairy ; fruit as long as the pappus, distinctly marked with lines ; root 

 perennial. This is a rare plant of mountain woods, found only in Scotland 

 and the north of England : it bears its few and small yellow flowers in July 

 and August. 



5. Marsh Hawk's-beard (C paluddsa). — Leaves smooth, lower ones 

 pinnatifid, with the lobes pointing backwards, tapering into a stalk, upper 

 ones narrow, heart-shaped at the base, and clasping the stem ; fruit marked 

 with lines ; root perennial. This is not an unfrequent species in damp woods 

 in the northern half of the kingdom, flowering from July to September. 

 Though an undoubted Crepis, it has the pappus of a Hieracium. 



11. BoRKHAUSiA (Borkhausia). 



1. Stinking Borkhausia {B. fcetida). — Leaves hairy, upper ones lanceo- 

 late, lower ones pinnatifid, their segments turning backwards ; unexpanded 

 heads drooping ; involucres hairy and downy ; root biennial. This is a rare 

 plant of dry chalky lands from Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to Kent and 

 Sussex. Its name is not undeserved ; for although, when at a distance, the 

 plant has a faint odour of bitter almonds, yet, when held in the hand for a 

 minute, the scent is most disgusting. The leaves are milky and very bitter. 

 The stem is spreading, and has long stalks, each bearing a solitary yellow 

 flower head, which is reddish externally. 



2. Smaller Rough Borkhausia (B. taraxacifdlia). — Leaves pinnatifid, 

 mostly with their segments pointing backwards, sessile or stalked ; heads of 

 flowers erect ; involucre bristly and downy, outer scales membranaceous ; 

 bracts narrow ; root biennial. This is not a common plant, being found in 

 chalky pastures, chiefly south of Yorkshire. The yellow flowers expand in 

 June and July. 



