ScabioM.] XLII. DIPSACEJE. 221 



Florets 5-lobod. Involucel with a spreading, scarious border. 



Fruit crowned by 5 bristles 2. & Columbaria. 



Florets 4-lobed. Involucel very short. Fruit crowned by 



minute teeth . 3. & arvtntn. 



The annual tweet Scabious (S. atropurpurea) and some other exotic 

 species are occasionally cultivated in our flower-gardens. [S. maritima, 

 L., a south European species, or form of atropurpurea, is completely 

 naturalised on the cliffs at Folkestone.] 



1. S. succisa, Linn. (fig. 494). Devil' s-bit. Bootstock short and 

 thick, ending abruptly below as if it had been bitten off. Leaves 

 mostly radical, stalked, ovate or oblong and entire, glabrous or with 

 a few long hairs on the upper surface; those of the stem few and 

 oblong, occasionally marked with 1 or 2 teeth. Stems 1 to 2 feet high, 

 with 1 to 5 heads of deep blue flowers on long peduncles. Bracts of 

 the involucre lanceolate, in 2 or 3 rows, the outer ones about as long 

 as the flowers, the inner ones passing gradually into the pointed scales 

 of the receptacle. Florets all nearly alike, 4-lobed, and but little 

 oblique. Involucels tubular, angular, completely enclosing the ovary 

 and fruit, bordered by very small, green teeth. Fruit crowned by the 

 4 bristles of the calyx, which scarcely project beyond the involucel. 



In meadows, heaths, &c., throughout Europe and Russian Asia, except 

 the extreme north. Abundant in Britain. PL summer and autumn. 



2. S. Columbaria, Linn. (fig. 495). Small S. Stock perennial, tufted 

 when old, and sometimes almost woody. Stems 1 to 2 feet high, in- 

 cluding the long terminal peduncles, glabrous or slightly hoary. Leaves 

 pinnate, the lower ones crowded, spreading, with an ovate or oblong 

 terminal segment, and several smaller ones ; the stem-leaves few, with 

 linear segments, entire or pinnatifid. Flowers of a pale purplish-blue. 

 Involucres short. Scales of the receptacles small and linear. Florets 

 5-lobed, the outer ones of each head much larger and more oblique. 

 Involncel enclosing the fruit to near the top, where it is contracted, 

 and then expands into a scarious, sinuate, cup-shaped border, in the 

 centre of which appears the summit of the fruit, crowned by the 5 

 bristles of the calyx. 



In pastures and waste places, very abunuant all over central and 

 southern Europe, extending eastward to the Caucasus, and northward 

 to southern Scandinavia. Dispersed over a great part of England, 

 especially near the east coast, along which it extends into west Scot- 

 land, but does not occur in Ireland. PI. summer and autumn. 



3. S. arvensis, Linn. (fig. 496). Field S. A perennial, but of short 

 duration, and often flowering the first year, more or less hairy, especially 

 near the base, from 1 to 2 or even 3 feet high. Leaves very variable ; 

 the radical ones usually lanceolate and stalked ; the upper ones broader 

 at the base, and sessile ; all coarsely toothed or slightly lobed, but 

 sometimes some or all are deeply cut or pinnate. Heads of flower? 

 large, of a pale lilac-purple ; on long peduncles, the outer florets much 

 larger and more oblique than the central ones, ajs in S. Columbaria, but 

 all are 4-lobed. Involucre short. Receptacle with hairs only between 

 the florets. Involucel very minuta Ovary and fruit angular, crowned 

 by the 8 or 10 radiating teeth or short bristles of the calyx. Knautia 

 arvensis, Coult. 



In pastures, open woods, waste and cultivated plaaee throughout 



