406 ORDER 69. DIPSACE^E. 



calyx. Plants stout, prickly. Lvs. opposite, connate (sometimes 

 distinct) at base. Heads oblong, the middle zone of florets first ex- 

 panding. (Fig. 206.) 



1 D. sylvestris Mill. WILD TEASEL. Lvs. connate, sinuate or jagged; lids, 

 cylindrical; bracts of the involucre longer than the heads of fls., slender and 

 pungent, bent inwards ; chaff of the receptacle pungent, not hooked. A tall, this- 

 tle-like plant, growing in hedges and by roadsides, Mass, to Ind. St. about 4f 

 high, angled and pricky, with the opposite, lance-shaped Ivs. united around it. 

 Fls. bluish, in a large oval, or cylindrical head whose bracts are not hooked, as 

 in the next species, but straight. Jl. Eur. 



, 2 D. Fullonum L. FULLER'S TEASEL. Lvs. connate, entire or serrate ; hd. 

 cylindrical; bracts hooked ; invol. spreading. Gardens. Rt. fleshy, tapering. St 

 erect, farrowed, prickly, hollow, about 5f high. Lvs. 2 at each node, united at 

 their bases around the stem in such a way as to hold a quantity of water. Fls. 

 whitish, in large oval or ovoid heads. Cultivated for the use of the clothiers 

 (fullonum) who employ the heads with their hard, hooked scales to raise the nap 

 upon woolen cloths. Jl. \ Eur. 



2. SCABIO'SA, L. SCABTSH. (Lat. scabies, leprosy ; plants said to 

 cure cutaneous diseases.) Flowers in heads ; involucre many-leaved ; 

 involucel nearly cylindrical, with 8 little excavations ; calyx limb con- 

 sisting of 5 setae, sometimes partially abortive. 2 Large, mostly Euro- 

 pean herbs with opposite Ivs. 



1 S. succisa L. DEVILS' -BIT. Rt. premorse ; st. Ivs. remotely toothed, hds. 

 of fls. nearly globous ; cor. in 4 equal segments. In gardens, though rarely cul- 

 tivated. The stem is about If high. Corolla violet, f Eur. 



2 S. atropurptirea L. MOURNING BRIDE. Lvs. pinnatifid and incised, hds. 

 of fls. radiant ; receptacle cylindric ; outer crown of the seed short, lobed and 

 crenate. A beautiful species, 2 to 4f high, with dense heads of purple fls. f 

 Native country unknown. 



ORDER LXX. COMPOSITE. ASTERWORTS. 



Plants herbaceous or shrubby, with compound flowers (of the old botanists) i. c., 

 the flowers in dense heads (capitula) surrounded by an involucre of many bracts (scales), 

 with 5 united anthers and if ic fruit an achenium (cypsela). Leaves alternate or oppo- 

 site, exstipulate, simple, yet often much divided. Fls. (florets) oo, crowded, sessile, 

 on the receptacle with or without pales (chaff). Cal. adherent, the limb wanting or 

 divided into bristles, hairs, etc. (pappus). Cor. tubular, of 5 lobes with a marginal 

 vein, often ligulate or bilabiate. Stam. 5, alternate with the lobes of the corolla, 

 anthers cohering into a tube. Ov. 1-celled, with 1 erect ovule ; style single with 2 

 stigmas at summit. Ft: a cypsela ( 557), dry, indehiscent, 1-seeded, often crowned 

 with a pappus. 



Illustrated in flzs. 55. 118, 141. 142, 145, 146, 170, 192, 193, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 824, 328, 329, 

 330, 831, 332, 333, 364, 879, 416, 434. 



Genera 1000 or more, species 9000? the most extensive and the most natural of all tho Phacn- 

 pamous Orders, always distinguished at sight by the capitate flowers and the united anthers. 

 It comprehends nearly one-ninth of all the species of flowering plants. The general inflores- 

 cence is centrifugal, that is, the central or terminal heads are first developed, while the inflor- 

 escence of the heads is centripetal, the outer flowers first, expanding. In color the flowers are 

 various; sometimes those of the disk and ray are of different colors, again they are all of tho 

 the same, bat in the former case the disk florets are almost always yellow. 



This immense order is diffused throughout all countries of the globe, but in very different 

 proportions. According to Hurnbolt, they constitute about one-seventh of the Phajnogamous 

 Flora of Germany, one-eighth, of France, one-fifteenth, of Lapland, one-sixth, of North America 

 (north of Mexico), and one-half, of Tropical America. In New Holland they are in the propor- 

 tion of about one-sixteenth, according to Brown, while in the island of Sicily they are one-half. 

 The Liguliflorae are said to be most abundant in cold regions, and the Tnbulifloras in hot regions. 

 The Labiatiflone are almost exclusively confined to South America. In the northern parts of 

 the world the Composite are universally herbaceous, but towards the tropics they gradually 

 become frutescent and even trees. In Chili they are generally shrubs, and on the island of St. 

 Helena they aie trees. 



Properties, &K. The Composite furnish comparatively few useful products. A bitter prin- 

 ciple pervades the whole, which, when combined wit.h resin and astringent mucilage, becomes 



