214 DANDELION. ARTICHOKE. 



Chrysanthemum Leucan'themum ; Blue-bottle, 

 Centau'rea Cy'anus ; and Chamomile, Anthe'mis 

 nob'ilis. Of these, the Dandelion is, perhaps, the 

 most common ; growing on rubbish and unculti- 

 vated land, as well as in meadows, where you have 

 seen it, and bearing flowers the greater part of the 

 year. In France, this plant is very much used in 

 salad; and at Gottingen, the roots are roasted and 

 used like coffee by the poorer inhabitants. The 

 juice of the roots and leaves is employed as a me- 

 dicine in England. The name Leon'todon is 

 taken from the supposed resemblance of its jagged 

 leaves to the teeth of a lion; and the English 

 name, Dandelion, which is a corruption of the 

 French Dent de lion, expresses the same idea. 



The Artichoke, Cyna'ra Scol'ymus; Dah'lia; 

 China Aster, As'ter chinen'sis; and Sun-flower, 

 Helian'thus, of which there are several species, 

 belong also to the class Syngenesia. The artichoke 

 is a native of the south of Europe, where it is 

 much more generally used than with us, and is 

 even eaten raw with salt and pepper. The com- 

 mon Sun-flower, Helian'thus an'nuus, grows wild 

 in Mexico and Peru; and another species, the Jeru- 

 salem Artichoke, Helian'thus tubero'sus, is a native 

 of Brazil. The vegetable oil most esteemed in 

 Russia is obtained from the seeds of the Sun- 

 flower. 



Yellow is the prevailing colour of the flowers in 



