COMPOSITiE. S07 



5. 'Water Senecio. Senecio aquaticus, Huds. 



(Eng. Bot. t. 1131.) 



Not always easy to distinguisli from tlie Ragwort S., especially from occa- 

 sional autumnal offsets of the latter, when the main stem has been acci- 

 dentally destroyed. The foliage is nearly the same, but the plant appears 

 to be of shorter duration, the stem not so tall, seldom attaining 2 feet, more 

 branched and spreading, the flower-heads larger, fewer, on longer i^edimcles, 

 formhig a loose, irregular, spreading corymb, and especially the achenes 

 appear to be always quite glabrous. 



In wet places, along ditches, etc., spread almost aU over Em-ope, extend- 

 ing northward to southern Scandinavia. Common in Britain. Fl. summer. 



6. RagTPort Senecio. Senecio Jacobsea, Linn. 



(Eng. Bot. t. 1130, not good.) 



Eootstock short and thick, without creeping shoots. Stems 2 to 4 feet 

 high, erect, scarcely branched except at tlie top. Leaves pinnate, with 

 ovate, obovate, or narrow segments, coarsely toothed or pinnatifid, the ter- 

 minal ones large and confluent, the lower ones smaller and distinct, all 

 glabrous, or with a loose, woolly down, especially on the ujider side. 

 Flower-heads rather large, of a bright yellow, in a handsome, compact ter- 

 minal corymb. Involucral bracts tipped with black, the outer ones few, 

 and very small. Florets of the ray from 12 to 13, linear-oblong and 

 spreading. Achenes of the disk covered with short hairs, those of the ray 

 glabrous. 



On roadsides, in waste places, and bushy pastures, aU over Europe and 

 Russian Asia, except the extreme north. Very common in Britain. Fl. 

 summer, lasting till late. When eaten down, or checked in its growth, it 

 will often assume the spreading inflorescence of the water S., when it can 

 only be distinguished by inspection of the achenes. 



7. NarroTv-leaved Senecio. Senecio enicsefolius, Linn. 

 {8. tenuifolius, Eng. Bot. 574.) 



Yery near the Eagivort S., but appears everywhere distinct. It is fully 

 as tall, and has the same inflorescence and flower-heads, but the rootstock 

 is shortly creeping, the leaves are much more regularly divided into nar- 

 rower segments, the terminal ones not very diiferent from the others, and 

 the achenes of the ray as hairy as those of the disk. The whole plant is 

 generally more or less covered with a loose, cottony down. 



The geographical area and stations are about the same as those of the 

 Ragwort S. It is rather more common in central and southern Europe, 

 but rather less so in Britain, and in the north generally. Fl. summer and 

 autumn. 



8. Fen Senecio. Senecio paludosus, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 650.) 



Stem erect, 2 to 5 or 6 feet high, scarcely branched. Leaves numerous, 

 narrow-lanceolate, sharply toothed, more or less cottony on the under side. 

 Flower-heads rather large, not very numerous, in a loose terminal corymb. 

 Involucres almost hemispherical, the oiiter bracts few, short, and subulate. 

 Florets of the ray from 12 to 16, yellow, Unear and spreading. 



In swamps and fens, in temperate Europe, extending northward to 

 southern Sweden, but usually very local. In Britain, restricted to the 

 fenland tracts in the eastern counties of England. FL summer. 



