234 THE COMPOSITE FAMILY. [/n/. 



erect perennial, about a foot high or rather more. Leaves numerous, 

 linear, thick and succulent, entire or with 1 or 2 small teeth at the 

 base. Flower-heads not large, solitary on the short branches of a short, 

 leafy panicle. Involucral bracts numerous and narrow. Florets of the 

 ray bright yellow and spreading, not so narrow or so numerous as in the 

 other species, yet twice as many as in Solidago Virga-aurea. 



In salt-marshes, in western Europe, and all round the Mediterranean ; 

 frequent on the southern and western coasts of Britain up to Kirkcud- 

 bright and Wigton, and in the east to Essex, both in salt-marshes and 

 on dry maritime limestone rocks, south-east of Ireland. Fl. summer 

 and autumn. 



4. I. Conyza, DC. (fig. 517). Ploughman's Spikenard. A hard, 

 erect biennial, 2 to 3 feet high, covered with a short down, rough on 

 the stem, soft and cottony on the under side of the leaves. Leaves 

 ovate-lanceolate, the lower ones stalked, the upper sessile. Flower- 

 heads numerous, in a terminal corymb. Involucres ovoid ; the bracts 

 numerous, the outer ones tipped with green, the inner linear, reddish, 

 and erect. Outer florets numerous but very small, their purple styles 

 alone protruding beyond the involucre, so that the plant appears at 

 first sight to have no ray. 



In hedges and open woods, and roadsides, in central and southern 

 Europe to the Caucasus, extending northwards into Denmark, but not 

 into north-eastern Germany. In Britain, as far north as York and 

 Westmoreland, but neither in Ireland nor Scotland. Fl. summer and 

 autumn. 



5. I. dysenterica, Linn. (fig. 518). Fleabane 1. Rootstock perennial, 

 with ascending or erect stems 1 to 2 feet high, loosely branched, and, 

 as well as the foliage, more or less downy or woolly. Leaves oblong, 

 much waved, clasping the stem with rounded auricles. Flower-heads 

 pedunculate in the upper axils or at the ends of the branches, hemi- 

 spherical, rather more than half an inch in diameter, with a ray of very 

 numerous, linear, spreading florets of a bright yellow. Involucral 

 bracts also numerous and narrow. Pappus-hairs few and shorter than 

 in the three preceding species, and enclosed at the base in a minute 

 membranous cup. Pulicaria dysenterica, Gacrtn. 



In wet pastures, ditches, and roadsides, in central and southern 

 Europe and western and central Asia, extending northwards to the 

 Baltic. Abundant in southern England and Ireland, becoming rare in 

 the north, and scarcely found in Scotland. Fl. summer and autumn. 

 This and the following species are sometimes separated as the genus 

 Pulicaria, Gaertn. 



6. I. Pulicaria, Linn. (fig. 519). Small Fleabane. An erect, branch- 

 ing annual, seldom a foot high, with narrower and less woolly leaves 

 than A dytenterica, which it resembles in many respects. Flower- 

 heads much smaller, and the florets of the ray, although very numerous, 

 yellow and spreading, are so short as at first sight to escape observa- 

 tion. The minute outer scales of the pappus are distinct, not forming 

 a little cup as in /. dysenterica. Pulicaria vulyaris, Gtertn. 



In moist waste places, roadsides, and sandy heaths, ranging over 

 Europe, extending eastward across Russian Asia, and northwards to 

 Bonthem Sweden. In Britain, chiefly in south-pastern England, ar.d 

 not known either in Ireland or Scotland. Fl. summer and autumn. 



