COMPOSITE FAMILY 



261 



hoary, oblong, cordate, amplexicaul leaves; and few terminal, 

 large, flat, golden-yellow heads, with bristle-like bracts and 

 numerous narrow ray-florets longer than the disk. — Moist places ; 

 common. — Fl. July — September. Perennial. 



2. P. vulgaris (Small Flea-bane). — Resembling the last, but not 

 more than half the size, nor by any means so hoary ; stem 

 hairy ; leaves lanceolate, narrow at the base, sessile, hairy ; heads 

 nearly solitary, \ in. across, 

 with very short, erect ray- 

 florets. — Sandy heaths, 

 where water has stood, in 

 the south, but not found 

 in Scotland or Ireland ; 

 not common. — Fl. August, 

 September. Annual. 



*i2. Xanthium (Bur- 

 weed). — A curiously ano- 

 malous genus with 

 monoecious heads, the 

 staminate ones having a 

 few brads in i row, a scaly 

 receptacle, and numerous 

 tubular florets with free 

 anthers ; whilst the carpel- 

 late ones consist of 2 

 florets, enclosed within a 

 spinous involucre which 

 hardens over their two 

 fruits, and having no 

 corolla. (Name from the 

 Greek xanthos, yellow.) 



I .* X. Strum drill m 

 (Common Bur weed). — 

 With cordate, 3-lobed, 

 toothed leaves and two straight beaks to the fruit, and 



2.* X. spinosimi (Spinous Burweed) with three spines at the 

 base of each leaf, and a single straight beak to the fruit, are both 

 casual escapes. — Fl. August, September. Annual. 



13. BiDENS (Bur-Marigold). — Glabrous plants with leaves 

 mostly opposite ; heads nearly solitary, yellow ; bracts in 2 or 3 

 rows, the outer spreading and often leafy ; receptacle flat and 

 scaly ; ray-florets generally absent, or, if present, in i row ; 

 neuter ; fruit compressed, angular, the angles ending in a pappus 



BIDENS TRiPARTiTA {Trifid Biir- Marl gold). 



