602 



SON 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



SON 



Sonchus; a genus of the class Syngenesia, order Polyga- 

 mia jEqualis. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : common 

 imbricate, ventricose; scales very many, linear, unequal. 

 Corolla: compound imbricate, uniform; coroliets hermaphro- 

 dite, numerous, equal; proper one-petalled, ligulate, linear, 

 truncate, five-toothed. Stamina: filamenta five, capillary, 

 very short; antherse cylindrical, tubular. Pistil: germen 

 subovate: style filiform, length of the stamina; stigmas two, 

 reflexed. Pericarp: none; the calix converging into a de- 

 pressed acuminate globe. Seeds: solitary, oblongish. Down: 

 capillary, sessile. Receptacle: naked. ESSENTIAL CHA- 

 RACTER. Calix: imbricate, ventricose. Down: hairy. Re- 

 ceptacle : naked. Many of the species are weeds, and there- 

 fore not to be planted in gardens, but extirpated continually, 

 not only in the garden itself, but in all the parts near it, 

 their winged seeds being wafted to a considerable distance. 

 The foreign sorts may be propagated by seeds, and those 

 which are shrubby by cuttings. The species are, 



1. Sonchus Maritimus ; Sea Sow-Thistle. Peduncle naked; 

 leaves lanceolate, embracing, undivided, sharply toothed 

 backwards. It flowers from July to September. Native of 

 the south of Europe, and of Barbary, in sandy wet places. 



2. Sonchus Cceruleus ; Blue Sow-Thistle. Peduncles and 

 calices hispid and racemed ; leaves sublyrate, terminating ; 

 lobe deltoid and very large. Root perennial, fleshy, branched, 

 in tufts ; corolla blue purple, twice as long as the calix. 

 Native of Canada and the European Alps. Found also on 

 the borders of corn-fields about Willington and Howden Pans 

 in Northumberland. 



3. Sonchus Palustris; Marsh Sow-Thistle. Peduncles and 

 calices hispid, subumbelled ; leaves runcinate, sagittate at 

 the base, rugged at the edge. Root perennial, fleshy, 

 branched, but not creeping ; panicle composed of several 

 yellow flowers. When old, it forms a large stool, and throws 

 out numerous stems from four to seven feet in height. This 

 is the tallest of our English herbaceous plants. It flowers 

 in July and August, three weeks later than the next species, 

 which it nearly resembles. Native of Germany, Flanders, 

 France, Italy, Hungary, Denmark, and England. Found 

 on the banks of the Thames, not far from Greenwich ; spar- 

 ingly in the marshes about Blackwall and Poplar; also 

 between Greenwich and Woolwich. 



4. Sonchus Arvensis; Corn Sow-Thistle. Peduncles and 

 calices hispid, subumbelled; leaves runcinate, toothletted, 

 cordate at the base. Root creeping, perennial, milky, com- 

 posed of oblong fleshy branches, which render it very diffi- 

 cult to be extirpated ; stem three or four feet high, nearly 

 simple; flowers very large and conspicuous, of a bright gold 

 colour, externally reddish. Mr. Curtis observes, that this 

 is properly named Arvensis, being commonly found in corn- 

 fields, where its large yellow flowers towering above the 

 corn, render it a very conspicuous plant. Its size, creeping 

 root, and numerous globular hairs on the calices and pedun- 

 cles, sufficiently distinguish it from the sixth species. Cows 

 and goats are said to eat the plant, of which horses also are 

 very fond. The leaves, like those of the Common Sow- 

 Thistle, applied outwardly by way of cataplasm, have been 

 found serviceable in inflammatory swellings. 



5. Sonchus Agrestis. Peduncles tpmentose, many-flow- 

 ered ; calices smooth ; stem striated ; leaves gash-serrate, ses- 

 sile. Flowers yellowish-white. Annual. Native of Jamaica. 



C. Sonchus Oleraceus ; Common Sow -Thistle. Peduncles 

 tomentose ; calices even; leaves runcinate, toothed. Root 

 annual, fusiform, whitish, milky; stem from one to three 

 feet high, upright, branched, especially towards the top, 

 round, except near the top, where it is somewhat angular, 



smooth, tender, brittle, hollow, leafy, sometimes purplish. 

 This plant is subject to great variations, which are merely 

 owing to soil and situation; even the prickly one may be 

 readily traced into the smooth in gardens overrun with these 

 plants. It appears to have nearly the same properties as 

 Dandelion and Succory, but is little regarded as a medicine. 

 It is a favourite food with hares and rabbits ; and is eaten 

 by goats, hogs, and sheep, but disliked by horses. In some 

 countries the young tender leaves are boiled and eaten as 

 greens; and it is even asserted that the tender shoots of 

 the smooth variety, boiled like Spinach, are superior to any 

 greens not in common use. It abounds in most gardens, 

 and is often met with on walls, being more injurious to the 

 slovenly gardener than the husbandman. It flowers chiefly 

 in July, August, and September. 



7. Sonchus Tenerrimus ; Clammy Sow-Thistle. Peduncles 

 tomentose; calices hairy. Root annual; stem very much 

 branched, with scattered glutinous hairs on it ; flowers yel- 

 low, corymbed. It varies greatly, and is distinguished from, 

 the other species by the very tender pinnatifid leaflets, and 

 the tomentose base of the calix. It flowers perpetually ; and 

 is eaten by the common people as a salad. Native of Italy 

 and the south of France. Found also in Barbary, both in 

 corn-fields and on the sea-shore. 



8. Sonchus Plumieri; Plunder's Sow-Thistle. Peduncles 

 naked; flowers panicled ; leaves runcinate. This very much 

 resembles the next species, but the corolla has only one row 

 of florets, or are fewer by half than that, but four times as 

 big; stem the height of a man ; corollas blue. Native of 

 the Pyrenees. 



9. Sonchus Alpinus; Alpine Sow-Thistle. Peduncles 

 scaly; flowers racemed; leaves runcinate. Root annual; 

 stem simple, upright, round, striated, glaucous, the height 

 of a man and upwards; corolla blue. This has been much 

 confounded with the second species, from which it is totally 

 different. Found on the sides of hills, and in valleys, among 

 the Lapland alps; where the natives eat the stalks raw like 

 Angelica, stripping off the bark ; but Linneus, who there 

 discovered it, found them too bitter for his palate. 



10. Sonchus Fruticosus ; Shrubby Sow-Thistle. Pedun- 

 cles somewhat scaly ; leaves attenuated at the base, and 

 lyrate ; lobes rounded, obtuse ; flowering calices squarrose. 

 Stem shrubby, smooth, milky, upright, scarcely branched, 

 round, thick, gray. Native of Teneriffe and Madeira. 



11. Sonchus Pinnatus ; Wing-leaved Sow-Thistle. Pedun- 

 cles naked ; calices even; leaves pinnate ; pinnas linear-lan- 

 ceolate, somewhat toothed. Native of Madeira. 



12. Sonchus Radicatus; Long-rooted Sow-Thistle. Pedun- 

 cles naked, together with the calices smooth ; stem almost 

 naked; root-leaves lyrate, even on both sides ; lobes trian- 

 gular, ovate. Native of the Canaries. 



13. Sonchus Floridanus; Small-flowered Sow- Thistle. Pe- 

 duncles scaly; leaves lyrate-hastate. Stem annual, four feet 

 high ; flowers yellow, terminating, many, appearing in July. 

 Native of North America, and China near Canton. 



14. Sonchus Sibiricus ; Willow-leaved Sow-Thistle. Pe- 

 duncles scaly ; leaves lanceolate, undivided, sessile ; flowers 

 yellow, in a large spreading panicle, appearing in July and 

 August. Perennial. Native of Sweden and Russia. 



15. Sonchus Tataricus ; Tartarian Sow-Thistle. Pedun- 

 cles naked ; leaves lanceolate, toothed, runcinate. Root 

 perennial, creeping; flowers blue; plant very like the pre- 

 ceding species. Native of Siberia. 



16. Sonchus Tuberosus ; Tubermis-rooted Sow-Thistle. 

 Lower leaves runcinate, upper sagittate. Corolla blue ; all the 

 pistilla in the centre of the flower. Native place unknown. 



