GROUNDSEL. 38 



name, which is derived from the Latin Senex an old man. 

 There are other eight British species, of which the most 

 frequent are briefly noted below. 



I. Mountain Groundsel (S. sylvaticus). Leaves similar to S. vulgaris, but 

 divisions more accentuated. When the ray is present it is rolled back. The flower- 

 heads are more numerous than in vulgaris. Plant with unpleasant foetid smell. 

 Dry upland banks and pastures. July to September. 



II. Stinking Groundsel (S. viscosus). More objectionable-smelling than the last. 

 Leaves broader, more divided, glandular, hairy and viscid. Plant much branched 

 and spreading. Flowers larger : rays rolled back. Waste ground. Local. July 

 and August. 



III. Ragwort (S.jacotxza). Stem thick and leafy, 2 to 4 feet high, somewhat 

 cottony, with clusters of large golden yellow flower-heads with spreading rays 

 Leaves finely lobed and toothed. Waysides, woods and pastures. June to October. 

 Very plentiful. 



IV. Hoary Ragwort (S. ewttifolius). Similar to the last, but the stem more 

 loosely cottony ; the segments of the leaves more regular and less divided ; rootstock 

 creeping. Hedges and roadsides. July and August. 



V. Water Ragwort (S. aquations). Like S. jacobcea.) but of lesser growth Flower- 

 heads larger, leaf-stalks longer. Wet places, riversides, ditches. July and 

 August. 



Rye-grass (Lolium perenne\ and 

 Upright Brome (Bromus erectus). 



The structure of grass-flowers has been already described, 

 and the reader should refer back to page 19. The inflorescence 

 is a spike, the spikelets arranged in two rows, with their edges 

 to the stem, which is channelled. There is only one outer 

 glume, which is strongly ribbed, and shorter than the spikelet. 

 The flowering glumes number from six to ten, or more. 



This is one of the grasses that send forth leafy runners, which 

 root and occupy surrounding ground. It is one of the most 

 valuable to the farmer, on account of it early ripening, and its 

 usefulness either for permanent pasture or for cropping. With 

 good management as many as four crops may be obtained in 

 one year. It grows in all waste places, and flowers in May. 



