THE SAW-WORT. 



Serratula tinctoria. Nat. Ord., 

 Composites. 



OT so striking perhaps in ap- 

 pearance as many plants of the 

 order, the saw-wort is not never- 

 theless without a certain beauty 

 of its own, in its slender growth 

 ' and small fan-like flower-heads ; 

 and it gains an additional in- 

 terest when we remember that 

 before the days of aniline dyes 

 and all the products that an 

 extended commerce brings to 

 our shores from all over the 

 world, the saw-wort was one oi 

 the tinctorial plants of our 

 forefathers. It was used by 

 dyers to give a yellow colour 

 to woollen stuffs, and was fixed 

 with alum, but as it was inferior to the weld, or yellow- 

 weed, the Reseda luteola of the botanist, its use was con- 

 fined to the coarser goods. 



The saw-wort belongs to the tribe of Cynafrocephalte. 

 The order in which it is included is so extensive, that it 

 has been found desirable to divide it into sub-orders 

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