COMPOUND FLOWERS 169 



31. Petasites (Butter-bur) 



I. P. vulgaris (Common Butter-bur). The only British species. 

 The largest, and where it abounds, the most pernicious of all the 

 weeds which this country produces. The flowers, which are of a 

 dull lilac colour, and are borne in a raceme on a thick stem 6-12 

 inches high, appear early in the spring, and are succeeded by 

 downy, kidney-shaped leaves, 1-5 feet in diameter, which, by 

 shading the ground, check the growth of all other plants. ' The 

 early blossoming of this rank weed induces the Swedish farmers to 

 plant it near their bee-hives. Thus we see in our gardens the bee 

 assembled on its affinities. P. alba and P. fragrans, at a season when 

 scarcely any other flowers are expanded " (Hooker and Arnott). 

 These two last species are common in shrubberies, almost hiding 

 the ground with their broad leaves, thriving beneath the shade of 

 trees and shrubs, but overpowering all herbaceous plants, and 

 eventually, it is said, even the shrubs themselves. Damp meadows, 

 etc. ; common. Fl. April, May. Perennial. 



IV. Radiatve. Daisy Group 



32. Tussilago (Colt's-foot) 



1. T. Farfara (Colt's-foot). The only species. The flower- 

 stalks, which spring directly from the roots, are covered with scale- 

 like bracts, and bear each a single yellow flower-head, with numerous 

 yellow rays ; the leaves, which do not appear until the flowers have 

 withered, are roundish, heart-shaped, and angular, with dark teeth, 

 and are covered with cottony down beneath, cobwebby above. 

 The heads of flowers droop before expansion, and the stalks after 

 flowering lengthen considerably. The goldfinch frequently lines 

 its nest with the pappus of this plant. The cotton of the leaves 

 was formerly used as tinder, and the leaves themselves are rolled 

 into cigars and smoked as a remedy for asthma. A pernicious 

 weed, abounding in clayey fields. Fl. March, April. Perennial. 



33. Erigeron (Flea-bane) 



1. E. acris (Blue Flea-bane). Branches erect, rough, alternate, 

 bearing single heads ; leaves narrow, entire, blunt. A much 

 branched plant, 6-18 inches high, with small heads of inconspicuous 

 flowers, of which the inner florets are yellowish, the outer dull blue. 

 The pappus is very long and tawny. Dry places and walls ; not 

 common. Fl. August. Biennial. 



2. E. Alpinus (Alpine Flea-bane). Leaves mostly radicle, hairy, 

 lanceolate ; stems 2-8 inches high, hairy, each bearing a solitary 

 flower-head about half an inch in diameter, the ray florets of which 



