COMPOUND FLOWEES Ul 



stalk is one or two feet high. It grows wild in France, Switzerland, Austria, 

 and Silesia. 



* * Plants without scions. 



2. Alpine Hawkweed {H. alpinnm). — Stem leafless or with a few 

 leaves, hairy ; leaves hairy, sometimes with glands ; lower leaves mostly 

 stalked, upper mostly sessile ; flowers one or two, terminal, and drooping 

 before expansion ; involucre much but loosely imbricated, and covered with 

 long brownish or grey silky hairs, the scales mostly spreading, flowers droop- 

 ing before expansion ; root perennial. This plant grows on lofty cliff's of our 

 mountainous regions, in North Wales and Westmoreland to Sutherland. Its 

 stem is from four inches to a foot high, sometimes branched ; and the large 

 bright yellow flower is to be seen in July and August. The leaves are some- 

 times oval, and sometimes very long and narrow, tapering at the base ; in the 

 latter case they are sometimes six or seven inches in length. A plant very 

 nearly allied to this, and found in similar situations from York to Sutherland, 

 is by some botanists described as the Black-headed Hawkweed {H. nigrhcens). 

 Its involucre is much darker than that of H. alpinnin, being covered with 

 numerous black hairs or bristles, often mixed with longer whitish hairs arising 

 from a black base. It was also called H. ptdmondrium (Lungwort Hawk- 

 weed), and believed, though without any reason, to be useful in pulmonary 

 disease. 



3. Wall Hawkweed (H. mworum). — Stem many-flowered, with a single 

 leaf, branched above ; root-leaves numerous, stalked, rounded or heart-shaped 

 at the base, somewhat hairy ; flowei'-stalks and involucre with white down, 

 and usually with black hairs ; inner scales of the involucre suddenly tapering 

 to a point ; root perennial. This is a common species, growing on rocks, 

 walls, and cottage-roofs, and bearing its small yellow flowers in July and 

 August. Its leaves are often purplish at the back ; its size is very variable, 

 the stem being from twelve to eighteen inches high, and bearing four or five 

 large yellow heads. The plant described as the Pale Hawkweed {H. pdUidum) 

 is probably but another form of this species. The heads of flowers do not 

 droop before expansion ; the foliage is thinner, and pale beneath ; but it is 

 doubtful if these peculiarities are permanent. 



4. Wood Hawkweed {H. sylvdticum). — Stem usually with a few leaves, 

 many-flowered, slightly hairy ; leaves egg-shaped, somewhat lanceolate, 

 toothed, with the teeth pointing upwards, rather hairy ; root-leaves usually 

 tapering into a foot-stalk ; stem-leaves either stalked or sessile ; flower-stalks 

 somcAvhat downy, in some cases having black hairs mixed with the down ; 

 involucre hoary with down ; root perennial. This is one of our commonest 

 Hawkweeds, being found in mountain woods, and on banks and bushy places. 

 It is a very variable plant, both in size and appearance. The stem is from 

 twelve to eighteen inches high, and the large bright yellow flowers appear in 

 August and September. In one variety the leaves are either uniformly green 

 or purplish, or glaucous beneath, the root-leaves remaining till the time of 

 flowering. In a form described by some writers as H. maculdtuni, the leaves 

 are spotted with dark purple blotches, and the root-leaves wither before the 

 flowers expand. 



