XIV. 



ACANTHUS MOLLIS. 



Smooth Beards-Breech. 



Class Xll. DiDYNAMiA.— Orc?e/- 11, Angiospermia, 

 Nat. Ord. Acanthace^. 

 Gen. Char. Calyx four-parted ; the two lateral inner 

 segments short ; the two outer long, with three bracteae, 

 of which the middle one is toothed, spiny. Corolla 

 labiate, the orifice closed with hairs; lower lip large, 

 three-lobed. Stigma bifid. Capsule ovate ; cells with 

 one or two seeds. 



Spec. Char. Leaves sinuated, unarmed. 



SYNONYMES. 

 Greek axxvfi's. 



r Acanthus. Ger.Em.\l47. Rati Hist. 1326. 

 Latin J ^^^^^^^^ Sativus. Bauhin Pinax, 383. 



j Branca Ursina. Murray, 204. 



' Acanthus Mollis. Lin. Sp. PI. 891. 

 French..., Acanthe ; Branche-Ursine. 

 Italian .... Acanto ; Brancorsina ; Branca Orsina. 

 Spanish... Acanto; Garra Ursina ; Verba Giganta. 

 Portuguese . Acanto. 

 German . . . Biirenklaue. 

 Dutch .... Beerenklaauw. 

 Danish . . . Bronekloe. 



Description.— The root is long, tliick, fleshy, diffuse, fibrous, 

 of a dark colour externally, and nearly white within. The 

 stem is cylindrical, upright, simple, firm, from two to three feet 

 in height, and clothed with flowers from the middle to the' 

 summit. The leaves are nearly all radical, amplexicaul, very 

 long, smooth, soft, sinuated, and pinnatifid, with many angular 

 clefts. The flowers are arranged in a long spike at the top of the 

 st&m. The calyx consists_ of four unequal leaflets, somewhat 



