DIPSACUS.] D1PSACEJE. 199 



embryo axile, straight, cotyledons broad flat, radicle short. DISTKIF. 

 Chiefly Oriental ; genera 5 ; species 125. AFFINITIES. With Composite. 

 PROPERTIES unimportant. 



Floral bracts spinescent, exserted, covering the head 1. Dipsacus- 



Floral bracts concealed, scale-like or 2. Scabiosa 



I. DIP'SACUS, Tournef. TEASEL. 



Erect, biennial, hairy or spinulose herbs, stems angular. Leaves usually 

 connate, toothed or cut. Heads oblong or cyliiidric ; receptacle columnar ; 

 invol. bracts many, rigid, spreading ; floral bracts exserted, spinescent ; 

 involucel 4-angled. Flowers proterandrous. Calyx-limb discoid or cupu- 

 lar, lobulate. Corolla-tube slightly dilated upwards ; lobes 4, short, 

 unequal. Stamens 4. Stigma dilated, obliquely decurved. DISTRIB. 

 Europe, "W. Asia; species 12. ETYM. obscure. 



1. D. sylves'tris, L. ; leaves sessile simple obovate-lanceolate, heads 

 oblong, invol. bracts upcurved. Wild Teasel. 



Copses and hedges from Perth and Dumbarton southcl. ; Ireland? ; Channel 

 Islands ; fl. Aug.-Sept. Glabrous. Stem 3-4 ft., stout, rigid, ribs prickly. 

 Leaves radical on the first year only, spreading; cauline 6-8 in., oblong- 

 lanceolate, entire or crenate, midrib prickly. Heads 2-3 in. ; bracts linear, 

 rigid, longer than the head ; floral bracts very long, rigid, subulate, strict, 

 ciliate ; involucel pubescent. Calyx-limb deciduous. Corolla purplish. 

 DISTRIB. From Denmark southd., Canaries to Persia. D. Fullo'num, L. 

 (Fuller's Teasel), known by its hooked bracts, is probably a form of this 

 plant only known in cultivation. 



2. D. pilo'sus* L. ; leaves petioled with usually a pair of basal leaflets, 

 heads subglobose hairy, invol. bracts deflexed. 



Moist hedges and banks, local, York to Devon and Kent ; fl. Aug.-Sept. 

 More or less hairy. Stem 2-4 ft., slender ; ribs with soft short hair-pointed 

 prickles. Leaves, radical petioled, hairy, crenate; cauline 6-12 in., oblong, 

 creuate-serrate. Heads f-1 in. diam., drooping in bud; bracts many, 

 shorter than the head, linear, toothed and ciliate ; floral bracts obovate. 

 with long cuspidate ciliate points; involucel calyx-tube and corolla white, 

 very hairy. DISTRIB. N. and Mid. Europe, Caucasus. 



2. SCABIO'SA, L. 



Perennial herbs. Leaves entire cr pinnatifid. Heads hemispheric or 

 depressed ; invol. bracts 1-2-seriate ; receptacle hemispheric or columnar, 

 hairy or with scaly floral bracts ; outer flowers often larger and rayed. 

 Involucel tubular, 4-8-angled, truncate, or 4-5-lobed. Flowers honeyed, 

 proterandrous. Calyx-limb cup-shaped, with 4-16 rigid bristles or teeth. 

 Corolla curved, oblique or 2-lipped ; lobes 4-5, obtuse. Stamens 4. Stig- 

 ma capitellate, notched. DISTKIB. Europe, W. Asia, all Africa ; species 

 about 80. ETYM. scabies, from its use in skin-diseases. 



