CICHORACEJE. 



961. T. Dens leoni* Haller hist. i. 23. Lessing. synopsis 135. 

 Leontodon Taraxacum Linn. sp. pi. 1122. Eng. Bot. t. 510. 

 Woodv. t. 3. Smith Eng. Fl. iii. 349. Meadows, pastures, 

 old walls, &c. very common all over Europe. (Dandelion.) 



Root tap-shaped, very milky, externally black, difficult of extirpation. 

 Leaves numerous, spreading, of a bright shining green, quite smooth, 

 tapering downwards, sessile, pinnatifid, with sharp, unequally toothed 

 lobes, pointing downwards, or, in botanical language, runcinate, of which 

 these leaves are a perfect example. Scapes 1 or more, longer than the 

 leaves, erect, smooth, brittle, naked. Flower-heads \\ inch wide, of a uni- 

 form golden yellow, expanded in the morning and in fine weather only. 

 Outer scales of the involucre several, linear-oblong, loosely recurved 

 and wavy. As the fruit ripens the involucre becomes reflexed close to 

 the stalk, leaving the light globe, near 2 inches in diameter, formed by 

 their radiating pappus, quite exposed, till dispersed by the winds. Smith. 



The infusion, decoction, and extract of the root are tonic and in 

 large doses aperient. In some cases it acts as a diuretic. In the 

 hepatic complaints of persons long resident in hot climates it often 

 affords very marked relief. 



CICHORIUM. 



Involucral scales in 2 rows, the outer shorter and rather lax ; 

 the inner 8 or more, converging, equal. Receptacle naked. 

 Achaenia beakless, turbinate, all of the same form. Pappus short, 

 equal, composed of elliptical obtuse paleae, in 2 rows. 



962. C. Intybus Linn. sp.^pl.'UkZ* Eng. Bot. t. 539. 

 Woodv. t. 248. Smith Eng. Fl. iii. 379. Lessing synops. 129. 



Common by waysides and on the borders of fields all over 

 Europe. (Wild succory.) 



Root spindle-shaped, fleshy, whitish, milky. Stem 2 or 3 feet high, 

 solid, round, furrowed, hispid, very tough. Radical leaves spreading, 

 above a span long, numerous, runcinate, toothed, roughish ; cauline 

 smaller, sessile, less lobed, the uppermost cordate, acuminate, entire. 

 Flower-heads large, of a beautiful bright blue, axillary, in pairs, all 

 nearly or quite sessile. Involucre roughish. Anthers and stigma blue. 



Root is said to be tonic and in large doses aperient. It has been 

 used in chronic visceral and cutaneous diseases, especially in the form of 

 decoction. Pereira. The root is extensively cultivated, especially in 

 France, as a substitute for coffee. When full grown, it is cut into dice, 

 roasted, and ground down, when it cannot be distinguished by the eye 

 from that substance : it agrees with it also in taste, but wants the 

 pleasant aroma. The French maintain that the quality of Coffee is 

 improved by the addition of the succory root if not in too large a 

 quantity. It certainly affords a most harmless means of adulterating it. 



470 



