PLANTS OF BERMUDA. 45 



mostly radical, deeply pimiatifid toothed, the terminal lobe much 

 the largest, taparing into the long, slender petiole. Heads small, 

 very numerous in large, almost leafless, panicles ; flower- stalks 

 thread-like, outer bracts ovate, minute, inner about ten in number, 

 narrow, equal, length of pappus. Florets ten to twenty ; achenia 

 smooth, yellow, ten-ribbed, not beaked. Habitat, roadsides Mount 

 Langton, plentiful. Heads quarter-inch, bright yellow ; March to 

 May. 



XVII. SONCHUS. 



Annual, succulent plants, with alternate leaves; involucre oblong, im- 

 hricated, in about three rows ; fruit compressed, grooved; pappus hairs 

 many seriate, simple, silky. 



1. S. oleracens (Sow-thistle ; Milky-thistle). An annual, erect 

 plant; stem angular, hollow, one to three feet high, sparingly 

 branched, branches rounded and grooved ; lower leaves coarsely 

 and reversely toothed or pinnatifid, with weak, spiny teeth, clasp- 

 ing the stem with their sharply-auricled base ; upper leaves cor- 

 date, ovate, with ciliate teeth ; involucre dilated at base ; fruit 

 ribbed and transversely wrinkled. Distribution, Europe, intro- 

 duced Anaerica ; habitat, a common weed everywhere. Heads 

 half-inch in diameter, pale yellow ; March to August. 



2. S. oleracens, sub-species Asper, is also common in cultivated 

 ground and by waysides ; the stem is stouter than in the foregoing ; 

 the wavy margins of the leaves are armed with sharp, spreading, 

 prickly teeth, the upper ones clasping the stem, with rounded and 

 reflexcd auricles, whilst the fruit is not transversely wrinkled. 



Nat : Ord : 38. Goodenoviece. 



Herbs or slirubs with alternate leaves without stipules ; calyx 

 superior, five-toothed ; corolla superior, irregular, five-cleft, the 

 edges of its lobes rolled inwards in the bud ; stamens five, arising 

 from summit of ovary ; stigma surrounded at top by a membranous 

 cup, which closes over the stigma after fertilization. 



I. SCCEVOLA. 



1. S. Flumieri. A straggling, seaside shrub, two to three feet 

 high ; stems stout, brittle, branching from the base ; leaves fleshy, 

 three inches long, broadly obovate, quite entire, smooth and shin- 

 ing ; cymes one to three flowered, from axils of leaves ; flowers 

 supported by two short, horn-like bracts ; calyx obsoletely five- 

 toothed ; corolla hairy on inside, one-lipped by being split to the 

 base on upper side ; the lip five-lobed, lobes fleshy with fringed 

 wings. Style incurved, protruding through cleft in corolla, cup 

 bearded. Fruit black, size of a small cherry, fleshy, two-celled, 

 two-seeded. Distribution, Bahamas, Jamaica, &c. ; habitat, sandy 

 bays, Paget and Somerset. Flowers white, one inch, June to 

 November. 



