COMPOSITE. 311' 



shaped leaves very large, sometimes attaining I7 feet in length by a foot in 

 breadth ; the upper ones much smaller, and broadly ovate ; all green, and 

 nearly glabrous above, often covered with a sliort, white, cottony down un- 

 derneath, bordered by minute teeth, but not prickly. Flower-heads in ter- 

 minal panicles. Involucres nearly globular, glabrous or covered with a 

 loose, white, cottony wool, catching at anything they come in contact with 

 by the hooked points of their numerous bracts. Florets purple, all equal. 

 Anthers with hair-hke appendages at their base. Achenes large, with a 

 short pappus of stiff hairs. 



In waste places, on roadsides, etc., over all Europe and Eussian Asia, 

 except the extreme north, and naturahzed in other parts of the globe. 

 Common in Britain. Fl. summer. It varies much in the size of the flower- 

 heads (from f to 1 finches diameter), in the breadth of the in volucral bracts, 

 in the abundance or deficiency of the cottony wool, in the length of the pe- 

 duncles ; and botanists have attempted to establish as many as five species,* 

 but no certain limits can be ascribed even to the three more generally recog- 

 nized varieties, the large-headed, the small-headed, and the cottony Burdocks, 



XXII. SAWWORT. SERRATULA. 



Herbs, not prickly, but with the general habit and style of the Thistle- 

 heads. Involucres ovoid or oblong, the bracts imbricated and pointed, but 

 not prickly. Receptacle with chaSy bristles between the florets. Pappus 

 of numerous simple unequal hairs, longer than the achenes. Anthers with- 

 out appendages. 



Although much reduced by the modem splitting of genera, Sawwort 

 Btm includes several south European and Asiatic species. 



1. Common Sai^n^ort. Serratula tinctoria, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 38.) 



A stiff, erect, scargely branched, and nearly glabrous perennial, 1 to 3 

 feet high ; the lower leaves more or less pinnate, with lanceolate, pointed, and 

 finely toothed segments, the termuial one the largest ; the upper leaves 

 toothed only, or with a few lobes at their base. Flower-heads in a terminal 

 corymb, partially dioeciovis, the male heads rather stouter than the females. 

 Involucres 7 or 8 lines long, with numerous appressed bracts, the inner ones 

 often coloured at the tips. Florets piu-ple. 



In open woods, thickets, and bushy pastures, common throvighout tem- 

 perate EurojDe, and extending far into Scandinavia, but not indicated in 

 Asiatic Floras. Spread over nearly the whole of England, but scarcely 

 penetrates into Scotland, and not recorded from Ireland. Fl. late in 



XXIII. SAUSSUREA. SArSSUREA. 



Herbs, with the habit and characters of Saunvort, except that the hairs of 

 the pappus, or 'at least the inner ones, are very feathery, and the anthers 

 have at their lower end hair-like appendages or tails. 



The species are chiefly numerous ui central and Russian Asia. There are 

 but few in Europe, confined to mountain regions or high northern latitudes. 



• See Babington's ' Manual,' ed. 4, pp. 184 and 185. 



