36 FLOWERS OF THE HILLS AND DRY PLACES 



Several small fungi may be found infesting this Scabious, as Perono- 

 spora violacea, Bremia lactnca, Ustilago scabiosce, U. flosculorum. A 

 Hymenopterous insect, Andrena hattorfiana, and the Lepidoptera, 

 Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk Moth (Sesia bombiliformis], Parasemia 

 sannio, GrapJiolitha quadrana, Nematois scabiosellis, feed on it. 



The generic name is a Latin word denoting scurfy or scabby, the 

 plant having been thought useful in curing scaly eruptions. The 

 second Latin name refers to its preference for cultivated land. 



This gay-flowered species is called Bachelor's Buttons, Billy Button, 

 Black Soap, Blue Buttons, Bluecaps, Blue Men, Broadweed, Cardies, 

 Clodweed, Clogweed, Curl-doddy, Egyptian Rose, Gipsy Flower, Gipsy 

 Rose, Lady's Cushion, Pincushion, Scabious, Seabridge, Scabril. Lyte 

 says it was named Scabious " of old tyme because it is given in drynke 

 to heale scabbes ". 



Field Scabious is astringent, and has been used for coughs, asthma, 

 fevers, epilepsy, &c. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



149. Scabiosa arvensis, L. Stem erect, branched, leaves at base 

 simple, serrate, downy, stem-leaves pinnatifid, flowers lilac, outer larger, 

 unequal, 2-15pped. 



Ploughman's Spikenard (Inula squarrosa, Bernh.) 



Local but well dispersed, Ploughman's Spikenard is found at the 

 present day in Europe from Denmark southwards and Western Asia, 

 but not in any early deposits. In Great Britain it is found in the 

 Peninsula, Channel, and Thames provinces, and in Anglia generally, 

 except in Hunts; in the Severn province; in S. Wales, except in 

 Brecon; in N. Wales, except in Montgomery; in the Trent province; 

 in the Mersey province, except in Cheshire; in the Humber, except 

 in S.E. and N.W. Yorks ; and in Westmorland. 



Ploughman's Spikenard is a plant of the uplands, especially common 

 in the western counties, where there are hilly regions generally. It 

 grows on the open hill-side, as well as in woods and copses where there 

 are stony banks, with Hawkweed and other Composites, such as Wall 

 Hawkweed. 



1 his is an erect, rigid, tall, and simple-stemmed plant, growing in 

 scattered clumps. The stem is herbaceous and leafy. The leaves 

 are downy below, with coarsely-toothed margin, lance-shaped to egg- 

 shaped, dark-green. The upper leaves are entire. 



The flowerheads are yellow, in corymbs. The phyllaries or whorl 



