\ 



248 THE COMPOSITE FAMILY. [Aretiwfk 



all equal. Anthers with hair-like appendages at their base. Achenes 

 large, with a short pappus of stiff hairs. 



in waste places, on roadsides, &c., over all Europe and Russian Asia, 

 except the extreme north, and naturalised in other parts of the gtobe. 

 Common in Britain. FL. summer. It varies much in the size of the 

 flower-heads (from f to 1 inches diameter), in the breadth of the 

 involucral bracts, in the abundance or deficiency of the cottony wool, 

 in the length of the peduncles ; and five distinct species have been 

 described, but it has always appeared to me very difficult to ascribe 

 any certain limits, even to the three more generally recognised varieties 

 A. majus, A. minus, and A. tomentosum. [The most conspicuous forms 

 are : 



a, A. majus, Schkuhr., with hollow petioles, green hemispherical 

 heads, and the corolla tube larger than the limb. A. tomentosum is a 

 variety of it with more spherical webbed heads. 



b. A. minus, Schkuhr., with more ovoid heads, purplish inner bracts, 

 and the corolla tube equalling the limb ; it varies in the breadth of the 

 leaves, the colour of the bracts, and glabrous or cottony heads. A. 

 nemorosum, Lej., is a sub variety with narrower coarsely crenate root- 

 leaves, and more globose heads.] 



XXIII. SEREATULA. SAWWORT. 



Herbs, not prickly, but with the general habit and style of Cynaroidece. 

 Involucres ovoid or oblong, the bracts imbricated and pointed, but not 

 prickly. Receptacle with chaffy bristles between the florets. Pappus 

 of numerous simple unequal hairs, longer than the achenes. Anthers 

 without appendages. 



Although much reduced by the modern splitting of genera, Serratula 

 still includes several south European and Asiatic species. 



1. S. tinctoria, Linn. (fig. 556). Common Saw wort. A stiff, erect, 

 scarcely branched, and nearly glabrous perennial, 1 to 3 feet high ; the 

 lower leaves more or less pinnate, with lanceolate, pointed, and finally 

 toothed segments, the terminal one the largest ; the upper leaves 

 toothed only, or with a few lobes at their base. Flower-heads in a 

 terminal corymb, partially dioecious, the male heads rather stouter 

 than the females. Involucres 7 or 8 lines long, with numerous ap- 

 pressed bracts, the inner ones often coloured at the tips. Florets 

 purple. 



In open woods, thickets, and bushy pastures, common throughout 

 temperate Europe, and extending far into Scandinavia, and into 

 western Siberia. Spread over nearly the whole of England, but 

 scarcely penetrates into Scotland, and not recorded from Ireland. 

 FL late in summer. 



XXIV. SAUSSUREA. SAUSSUREA. 



Herbs, with the habit and characters of Serratula, except that the 

 hairs of the pappus, or at least the inner ones, are very feathery, and 

 the anthers have at their lower end hair-like appendages or tails. 



The species are chiefly numerous in central and Russian Asia. There 



