TEASEL TRIBE. 315 



form, round the stem, a hollow, in which water col- 

 lects ; hence the plant was called dipsacus, or thirsty, 

 from the Greek dipsao, to thirst.) 



2. SCABIOSA (Scabious). Heads with numerous 

 general bracts at the base ; outer calyx membranaceous 

 and plaited ; inner of 5 bristles ; receptacle scaly ; fruit 

 nearly cylindrical. (Name, from the Latin scabies, the 

 leprosy, for which disease some of the species were sup- 

 posed to be a remedy.) 



3. KNAUTIA (Field Scabious). Heads with numerous 

 general bracts at the base ; outer calyx minute, with 

 4 small teeth ; inner cup-shaped ; receptacle hairy ; 

 fruit 4-sided. (Name in honour of Christopher Knaut, 

 a Saxon botanist.) 



1. DIPSACUS (Teasel). 



1. D. sylvestris (Wild Teasel). Leaves opposite, 

 united at the base, and forming a cup ; bristles of the 

 receptacle not hooked. Waste places, common. A stout 

 herbaceous plant, 3 6 feet high, with an erect prickly 

 stem, large bright green leaves, which are prickly 

 underneath and united at the base, and often contain 

 water. The flowers grow in large, conical, bristly heads, 

 the terminal bristles being generally the longest. The 

 flowers themselves are light purple, and expand in 

 irregular patches on the head. Fl. July. Biennial. 



2. D. pilosus (Small Teasel). Leaves stalked, with a 

 small leaflet at the base on each side. Moist shady 

 places, not common. Smaller than the last in all its 

 parts, and having more the habit of a Scabious than of 

 a Teazel. The flowers are white, and grow in small, 

 nearly globose, bristly heads ; the whole plant is rough 

 with bristles. Fl. August, September. Biennial. 



* D. Fullonum (Fullers' Teasel) differs from D. syl- 

 vestris in having the bristles of the receptacle hooked ; it 

 is not considered a British plant, though occasionally 

 found wild in the neighbourhood of the cloth districts, 



