COMPOSITE 183 



Meadows and rich pastures from the plains to the Alps. Often 

 in great abundance in mowing grass. 



Distribution. Europe and Western Asia, but not in the extreme 

 north. British. 



PRENANTHES L. 

 Prenanthes purpurea L. (Plate XIX.) 



A tall purple-flowered woodland plant. Stems much-branched, 

 glabrous like the whole plant. Capitula small, numerous, few- 

 flowered. Involucral bracts in one row, few. Pappus-hairs simple. 

 Leaves cordate-amplexicaul, bluish green beneath. 



Mountain woods, especially in the Conifer zone. July, August. 



Distribution. Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Pyrenees, 

 Corsica, Vosges, Cevennes. Central and Southern Europe. 



The drawing shows merely one small branch, the complete plant 

 being usually 4-5 feet high. 



LACTUCA L. Lettuce. 



Flowers yellow or blue. Capitula usually small, few-flowered, 

 corymbose. Involucral bracts in several rows. Pappus of many 

 soft feathery hairs. Fruit beaked. 



Lactuca perennis L. 



Capitula large, blue, on long stalks. Involucral bracts cordate. 

 Stem very thick, 10-18 inches high, glabrous, branched. Leaves 

 pinnatifid, with narrow segments ; upper ones lanceolate. 



Sunny rocks and hillsides up to 4500 feet, especially on lime- 

 stone ; local. May to July. 



Distribution. Central and Southern Europe. 



The four English species, with yellow flowers, are sometimes seen 

 in the lower hills of Switzerland, viz. Lactuca muralis Fresn., leaves 

 lyrate-pinnatifid ; common in woods and under walls. L. virosa L., 

 leaves bristly beneath ; waste places. L. Scariola L., leaves less 

 prickly, capitula smaller ; stony places. L. saligna L., leaves 

 scarcely ever bristly, linear, entire, arrow-shaped ; capitula sessile, 

 crowded ; flowers pale yellow. Occasional in Western Switzerland. 



MULGEDIUM Cass. 



Capitula corymbose. Involucral bracts in several rows, few. 

 Flowers blue. Fruit beaked, with a crest of bristles. Pappus-hairs 

 soft, slender, silvery. Tall, robust herbs. 



Mulgedium alpinum Lessing (Sonchus alpinus L.). (Plate XXVII.) 



Stem 2-4 feet high, purplish, glandular-hairy at the top, branched 



and leafy. Inflorescence a dense corymb. Leaves glabrous, 



except pi} the dorsal nerve, lyrate-pinnatifid, the last segment 



