SYNGENESIA— POLYGAM.-.^QU. Leontodon, 349 



1. L. Taraxacum. Common Dandelion. 



Outer scales of the calyx reflexed. Leaves runcinate, 

 toothed, smooth. 



L. Taraxacum. Unn. Sp. PI. 1 1 22. Willd. v. 3. 1544. Fl. Br. 822. 



Engl. Bot. V. 8. <. 5 10. Curt. Loud. fasc. 1 . t. 58. Woodv. t. 3. 



Mill. Illustr. t. 6G. Hook. Scot. 227.' Fl. Dan. t. 574. Dreven 



Bilderb. t. 4. Bull. Fr. t.2\7. Ehrli. PI. Of. 438. 

 L. officinalis. With. 679. Hull 173. 

 'I'araxacum n. 56. Hall. Hist. v. 1 . 23. 

 T. officiTiale. Sibth. 239. 

 Dens leonis. Raii Syn. 1 70. Ger. Em. 290./. Matth. Valgr. v. I . 



461./. Camer.Epit.286.f. 

 D. leonis vulgi. Lob. Ic. 232. f. Moris, v. 3.74. sect. T.t.S.f.l. 

 Hieracium majus. Trug. Hist. 262./. 

 Hedypnois. Fuchs. Hist. 6S0.f. Jc. 391./. Dalech. Hist. 564. f. 



Bauh. Hist. V. 2. 1035./. 

 H. Taraxacum. Scop. Cam. v. 2. 99. 

 Common Dandelion. Petiv. H. Brit. t. 1 1./. 7. 

 j6. Dens leonis angustioribus foliis. Raii Syn. 171. 

 Narrow Dandelion. Petiv. H. Brit. t.l\.f.8. 



In meadows, pastures, waste and cultivated ground, every where. 



j6. On dry grassy hills, or the tops of walls. At Matlock bath, Der- 

 byshire. 



Perennial. April — July. 



Root tap-shaped, very milky, externally black, difficult of extirpa- 

 tion, ieares numerous, spreading, of a bright shining green, 

 quite smooth, tapering downwards, sessile, pinnatifid, witii sharp, 

 unequally toothed lobes, pointing downward, or, in botanical 

 language, runcinate, of which these leaves are a perfect example. 

 They may also be called lion-toothed. Flower-stalks one or 

 more, rather longer than the leaves, erect, very smooth, brittle, 

 quite naked. Fl. 1^ inch wide, of a uniform golden yellow, ex- 

 panded in the morning and in fine weather only. Outer scales 

 of the calyx several, lineiu-oblong, loosely recurved and wavy. 

 As the seeds ripen, the inner calyx becomes reflexed close to the 

 stalk, leaving the light globe, near 2 inches in diameter, formed 

 by their radiating down, quite exposed, lill dispersed by the 

 wind. 



By culture, and especially by blanching, this herb, though, like the 

 garden Lettuce and Endive, originally fullof bitter milk, becomes 

 sufficiently mild to be eaten in a salad, nor is its bitterness of a 

 disagreeable kind. It is reported to be powerfully diuretic. 



/3 fs much smaller in every part than usual, the segments of the 

 leaves being deep and very narrow, but the calyx scales retain 

 their due proportion and posit'on. Some botanists appear to 

 confound this variety with the following species, but the latter is 

 naturally quite a bog plant; whereas the Common Dandelion 



