314: DIPSACE.E. 



2. F. dentdta (Toothed Corn-salad). Leaves long and 

 narrow, much toothed towards the base ; flowers in 

 corymbs, with a solitary sessile one in the forks of the 

 stem ; capsule not inflated, crowned by the 4-toothed 

 calyx. Cultivated ground, common in the West of 

 England, but not general elsewhere. Taller than the 

 last, and of a more rigid habit. IX June, July. 

 Annual. 



* Two or three other species of Fedia have been 

 described by British botanists ; these are of rare occur- 

 rence, and differ slightly from the preceding, principally 

 in the form of the fruit. 



ORD. XLV. DIPSACE^E. THE TEASEL TRIBE. 



Calyx attached to the ovary, surrounded by several 

 more or less rigid, calyx-like bracts ; corolla tubular, 

 with 4 5 unequal lobes ; stamens 4, the anthers not 

 united ; style 1 ; stigma not cleft ; fruit dry, 1 -seeded, 

 crowned by the pappus-like calyx ; flowers in heads. 

 Herbaceous plants, inhabiting temperate regions, and 

 possessing no remarkable properties. Dipsacus Fullo- 

 num is the Clothiers' Teasel, a plant with large heads 

 of flowers, which are embedded in stiff, hooked bracts. 

 These heads are set in frames and used in the dressing 

 of broad-cloth, the hooks catching up and removing all 

 loose particles of wool, but giving way when held fast 

 by the substance of the cloth. This is almost the only 

 process in the manufacture of cloth which it has been 

 found impossible to execute by machinery ; for although 

 various substitutes have been proposed, none has proved, 

 on trial, exactly to answer the purpose intended. 



1. DIPSACUS (Teasel). Heads with numerous general 

 bracts at the base ; outer calyx forming a thickened 

 margin to the fruit ; inner, cup-shaped, entire ; recep- 

 tacle bristling with rigid awns ; fruit with four sides. 

 (Name ; the leaves are united at their base, so as to 



