Ceniaurea.] COMPOSITE. 157 



a. calyx glabrous. A. Lappa, E. Bot. t. 38. E. Fl. v. iii. p. 

 380. 



P. calyx with a cobweb-like down. A. Bardana, Willd. 

 E. Bot. t. 2478. E. Fl. v. iii. p. 381. 



Waste places and way-sides, common. Fl. July, Aug. $ . Three 

 feet or more high. Radical leaves very large, and often slightly toothed. 

 Involucre with hooked scales which fasten themselves most pertina- 

 ciously to clothes and the coats of animals when they coine in contact 

 with them. These scales are sometimes glabrous, and occasionally 

 have a more or less cottony substance interwoven with them ; whence 

 two species have been established by some authors. Flowers purple. 



26. CENTAUREA. Linn. Knapweed, Blue-bottle, Star-thistle. 



Involucre imbricated. Receptacle bristly. Pappus simple or 

 none. Corollas of the ray funnel-shaped, irregular, longer 

 than those of the disk. Name ; with this plant it is said the 

 Centaur, Chiron, cured himself of a wound received in the 

 foot from Hercules. Syngenesia. Frustranea. 



1. C. Jacea, Linn. Brown radiant Knapweed. Scales of 

 of the involucre radiant, torn, the outer pinnatifid ; leaves 

 linear-lanceolate, the lower ones broader and toothed ; flowers 

 radiant; pappus very short, in a single row. Br. FL 1. p. 368. 

 E. FL v. iii. p. 465. E. Bot. t. 1678. 



In a field near Belfast, very sparingly ; Mr. Templeton. Base of 

 Carig mountain, near Kenmare ; Doctor Taylor. Dry gravelly bank, 

 near Enagh Lough, County of Derry ; Mr. D. Moore. FL Aug. 

 Sept. %. Lower leaves obovato-lanceolate, petiolated, the upper ones 

 entire, sessile. Scales of the involucre pale brown, shining, the outer 

 ones deeply pinnatifid, the inner or uppermost torn. Florets very nu- 

 merous, spreading, purple. 



2. C. nigra, Linn. Black Knapweed. Scales of the invo- 

 lucre ovate, fringed with capillary teeth ; lower leaves angular, 

 lyrate ; upper ones lanceolate ; ray wanting ; pappus very 

 short, tufted. Br. FL 1. p. 368. E. FL v. iii. p. 465. E. Bot. 



t. 278. 



Meadows and pastures, frequent. FL June Aug. 1 . Stem 2 3 

 feet high. Leaves scabrous. Scales of the involucre almost black, 

 the teeth brown. Florets purple, numerous, all fertile. 



3. C. Cyanus, Linn. Corn Blue-bottle. Scales of the in- 

 volucre serrated ; leaves linear, entire, the lowermost toothed. 

 Br. FL 1. p. 368. E. FL v. iii. p. 466. E. Bot. t. 277. 



Corn fields. Fl. July, Aug. Q. Two or three feet high, covered 

 with a loose cottony down, especially on the stems and the undersides 

 of the leaves. Florets of the disk small, purple ; those of the ray 

 few, larger, bright blue, spreading. Scales of the involucre greenish, 

 the margin brown. In gardens where it is much cultivated it varies 



