62 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 



Hypocheeris, Theophrastus, is from the Greek hypo, under, and 

 c/iotros, a hog, the roots being eaten by pigs. The second Latin 

 name refers to the long root. It is called Bent, Cat's-ear, Gosmore. 



It is to be distinguished from Leontodon autumnale by its long 

 root, apart from the following characteristics. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



181. Hypoch&ris radicata, L. Stem scaly, leaves radical, runci- 

 nate, lobes recurved, hirsute, flower- stalk forked, smooth, thickened 

 above, flowerheads yellow, involucre shorter than florets. 



Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale, Weber) 



The Dandelion, which affords so dear a recollection of youthful 

 days and clock-blowing, has been native in Britain since very early 

 times. It is found, in fact, in beds of Interglacial, Late Glacial, and 

 Neolithic age. It is found in the Northern and Southern Temperate 

 Zone as well as in the Arctic Zone. It is common in all parts of 

 Great Britain, as far north as the Shetlands, and also in Ireland 

 and the Channel Islands. 



The Dandelion is a widespread plant, which in spring and early 

 summer makes the meadows bright with golden blooms. The typical 

 form is found in moist meadows, but one form is more confined to dry 

 soils, whilst another form grows in wet marshy ground. It is common, 

 too, at the foot of walls, in villages, and on waste ground. 



The Dandelion is a good example of a plant having the rosette 

 habit. The plant is either smooth and hairless or cottony at the 

 crown and involucre. The root is long, stout, brownish or black, 

 with milky juice, which also occurs throughout the whole plant, serving 

 to protect the aerial parts. The leaves are bright-green, all radical, 

 entire or deeply divided nearly to the base, runcinate, with the lobes 

 turned backward towards the centre, toothed, and are oblong to 

 inversely egg-shaped, spoon-shaped, w r avy. 



The flowerheads are golden -yellow, borne on hollow, succulent, 

 juicy, round, radical scapes, ascending or erect. The heads are broad, 

 erect in bud. The involucre is bell-shaped, the outer phyllaries bent 

 back, the inner erect. The outer corollas are sometimes brown on 

 the back. The fruit, a cypsela, is pale -brown, linear to inversely 

 egg-shaped, blunt, prickly at the top, with longitudinal furrows, and 

 a long beak, as long as the fruit. The pappus has a short neck, 

 which is a continuation of the receptacular tube, adherent to the ovary. 

 In fruit it lengthens and bears the spreading hairy silky pappus. 



