NATURAL ORDERS. 



269 



469. Composite, the Comjpositm or Stinjlower Tribe. — Herhs or 

 shruhs. Leaves alternate or opposite. Jf lowers (called fiorels) 

 collected in dense heads upon a common receptacle, sm-round- 

 ed by an involucre, the separate flowers often furnished with 

 bractlets called palece. Calyx adherent to the ovary, its limh 

 obsolete or membraneous, consisting of bristles, pale^, hairs, or 

 feathers c21\qA pappics. Corolla regular or irregular. Stamens 

 5, inserted on the tube of the corolla, and alternate with its 

 teeth ; anthers cohering in a tube. Ovary 1-celled, with a sin- 

 gle, erect ovule. Fridt an achenium. Seed solitary, erect, 

 albuminous ; emhryo straight. This extensive but very natural 

 family is divided into four sub-orders, namely : Cichoracece^ 

 having the florets all ligulate ; Cinarocephaloe^ florets all tubu- 

 lar ; Uorymhiferoi^ florets tubular in the disk, ligulate in the 

 circumference ; Labiatiflorce^ corolla of the disk-flowers bila- 

 biate. 



a. Properties : all have more or less bitterness, sometimes associated with astrin- 

 gent, acrid, and narcotic qualities. 



470. Sub-order I. — Cichorace^ — Most plants of this section 

 yield a milky juice, which is bitter, astringent, and narcotic ; 

 by cultivation some are rendered esculent. 



Genera. — Apogon, Cichoriura, Krigia, Troximon, Leontodon, Tragopogon, Pre- 

 nanthes, Lactuca, Chondrilla, Hieracium, Apargia, Ammobium. 



471. Sub-order II. — CiNARocEPHALiE — Usually tonic and 

 stimulant ; bitterness lessened by cultivation, so that the plants 

 often become esculent. 



Genera. — Echinops, Arctium, Centaurea, Cnicus, Carthamus, Cynara, Carduus, 

 Onopordon. 



472. Sub-order III. — Cortmbifer^ — ^The plants of this sec- 



Fig. 193. Fig. 194. 



tion have the general bitterness of the order, and some have an 

 aromatic odor from the presence of volatile oil. 



