284 THE TEASEL FAMILY. 



Florets 5-lobed. Involucel with a spreading, scarious border. Fruit 



crowned by 5 bristles 2. Small S. 



Florets 4-lobea. Involucel Tery short. Fruit crowned by minute 



teeth 3. Field S. 



The annual sweet Scabious {S. atropurpv/rea) and some other exotic spe- 

 cies are occasionally cultivated in our flower-gardens. 



1. Blue Scabious. Scabiosa succisa, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 878. BeviVs-Ut.) 



Eootstock short and thick, ending abruptly below as if it had been bit off. 

 Leaves mostly radical, stalked, ovate or oblong and entire, glabrous or with 

 a few long hairs on the upper surface ; those of the stem few and oblong, 

 occasionally marked with 1 or 2 teeth. Stems 1 to 2 feet high, with 1 to 5 

 heads of deep-blue flowers on long peduncles. Bracts of the involucre lan- 

 ceolate, in 2 or 3 rows, the outer ones about as long as the flowers, the inner 

 ones passing gradually into the pointed scales of the receptacle. Florets aU 

 nearly alike, 4-lobed, and but little oblique. Involucels tubular, angular, 

 completely enclosing the ovary and fruit, bordered by very small, green 

 teeth. Fruit crowned by the 4 bristles of the calyx, which scarcely project 

 beyond the involucel. 



In meadows, pastures, heaths, etc., throughout Europe and Russian 

 Asia, except the extreme north. Abundant in Britain. Fl. summer and 

 autumn. 



2. Small Scabious. Scabiosa Columbaria, Linn. 



(Eng. Bot. t. 1311.) 



Stock perennial, tufted when old, and sometimes almost woody. Stems 

 1 to 2 feet high, including the long terminal peduncles, glabrous or slightly 

 hoary. Leaves pinnate, the lower ones crowded, spreading, with an ovate 

 or oblong terminal segment, and several smaller ones ; the stem-leaves few, 

 with linear segments entire or piunatifid. Flowers of a pale purplish-blue. 

 Involucres short. Scales of the receptacle small and linear. Florets 5- 

 lobed, the outer ones of each head much larger and more oblique. Invo- 

 lucel enclosing the fruit to near the top, where it is contracted, and then 

 expands into a scarious, sinuate, cup-shaped border, in the centre of which 

 appears the summit of the fruit, crowned by the 5 bristles of the calyx. 



In pastures and waste places, very abundant all over central and southern 

 Europe, extending eastward to the Caucasus, and northward to southern 

 Scandinavia. Dispersed over a great part of England, especially near the 

 east coast, along which it extends into Scotland, but does not occur in Ire- 

 land. Fl. summer and autumn. 



3. Field Scabious. Scabiosa arvensis, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 659.) 

 A perennial, bnt of short duration, and often flowering tlie first year, more 

 or less hairy, especially near the base, from 1 to 2 or even 3 feet high. 

 Leaves very variable ; the radical ones usually lanceolate and stalked ; the 

 upper ones broader at the base, and sessile ; aU coarsely toothed or slightly 

 lobed, but sometimes some or all are deeply cut or pinnate. Heads of 

 flowers large, of a pale lUac-pui-ple ; on long peduncles, the outer florets much 

 larger and more oblique than the central ones, as in the small S., but aU 

 are 4-lobed. Involucre short. Receptacle with hairs only between the 



