THE TEASEL. 



Lipsacm sylvestris. Nat 

 Dipsacacece. 



On, 



HE teasel, though not so com- 

 mon as some other plants, 

 is very generally distributed, 

 and we should imagine that 

 few persons out for a day's 

 ramble in the country would 

 fail to come across a specimen 

 or two of it. Its harsh, 

 tough, wiry stems offer no 

 temptation to any animal 

 to browse on them, and 

 long after most plants have 

 died away with the summer 

 or autumn, the dry gaunt 

 stalks of the teasel and its 

 brown and withered heads 

 stand erect in the hedgerow 

 and attract our notice. Some 

 of our botanists admit three species, the D. Fullonum, 

 or fuller's teasel, the present species, and the D. pilosus, a 

 small teasel, while most of them are inclined to blend the 

 first and second into one. The first form has the hooked 

 scales of the flower-head largely developed, and cultiva- 

 tion is found to preserve this feature, while neglect or 

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