COMPOUND FLOWEES 147 



songs in the summer woods, come in autumn to peck its seeds, and some 

 insects feed on the foliage. The plant really deserves praise as furnishing a 

 wholesome vegetable ; and among the many whose young stems are occa- 

 sionally used as a substitute for asparagus, we know of none so tender as 

 this. The stems should be stripped of their rind just before the time 

 of flowering. The plant is cultivated on this account in some parts of France ; 

 while Kalm says, that at Philadelphia the peeled stems are commonly eaten 

 as radishes. 



The Burdock is general throughout Europe, in uncultivated spots, in woods, 

 or by the sides of ditches ; and it is equally so in Japan, and in many parts 

 of America. The French call the plant Bardane ; the Germans, Klette ; the 

 Dutch, Klissen ; the Italians, Lappola ; the Spaniards, Lampazo ; and the 

 Russians, Lapuschnik. 



17. Saw-wort {Sendtula). 



Common Saw-wort («S'. tinctdria). — Flowers having their stamens and 

 pistils in separate flower-heads, and sometimes on diff"erent plants ; leaves 

 entire or pinnatifid, usually with bristly serratures ; scales of the involucre 

 either smooth or having on them a cottony down ; outer ones close pressed, 

 inner narrow and tinged with purple ; root perennial. This plant, which 

 does not grow wild in Scotland, is far from uncommon in England, being 

 found in woods, thickets, and heathy places, sometimes in great profusion. 

 It is a stiff, slender plant, with a stem one or two feet high, and bears, in 

 August, a cluster of small terminal oblong heads of dark purple thistle-like 

 flowers, consisting of florets, which are almost globular, and which, as Purton 

 says, resemble old-fashioned wine-glasses. The genus is called Saw-wort, 

 from the saw-like edges of the leaves of several of the species. Our native 

 plant yields a fine yellow colour, which Linnajus tells us is much used in 

 Sweden in dyeing woollen cloth, and which, when fixed with alum, is both 

 brighter and more permanent than the yellow dye procured from the Dyer's- 

 weed. A good brown colour and an excellent green tint are also formed 

 from it by some other modes of preparation. This species is common in 

 many European countries : it is called Sarrette in France, and is the 

 Fdrberscharie of the G-ermans. The Dutch terra it Zaaghlad ; and it is known 

 in Spain as the Serratula de los tinfoi-eros. The leaves of a foreign species 

 (S. amdra) are remarkable for their intense bitterness ; and an Indian species 

 is much prized in Hindustan for its medical uses. 



18. Saussurea (Saussurea). 



Alpine Saussurea (*S^. alpina). — Leaves lanceolate, flat, cottony 

 beneath, upper ones quite entire ; root-leaves toothed and stalked ; heads few, 

 in a crowded corymb ; involucre somewhat cylindrical, shaggy with hairs ; 

 scales pressed close, the outer ones shorter ; root perennial. This mountain 

 flower serves to commemorate a native of Switzerland, and an eminent 

 botanist, Benedict de Saussure. It grows on the most alpine rocks of 

 Snowdon and the Lake District, is frequent in the Scottish Highlands, and 

 occurs in Donegal. The stem is from eight to twelve inches high ; and the 

 purple blossom, which expands in August, is, like most alpine flowers, large 



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