COMPOSITE. 183 



Meadows and rich pastures from the plains to the Alps. Often 

 in great abundance in mowing grass. 



Distribution. — Europe and Western Asia, but not in the extreme 

 north. British. 



Prenanthes L. 



Prenanihes purpurea L. (Plate XIX.) 



A tall purple-flowered woodland plant. Stems much-branched, 

 glabrous like the whole plant. Capitula small, numerous, few- 

 flowered. Involucral bracts in one row, few. Pappus-hairs simple. 

 Leaves cordate-amplexicaul, bluish green beneath. 



Mountain woods, especially in the Conifer zone. July, August. 



Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; Pyrenees, 

 Corsica, Vosges, Cevennes. Central and Southern Europe. 



The drawing shows merely one small branch, the complete plant 

 being usually 4-5 feet high. 



Lactuca L. Lettuce. 



Flowers yellow or blue. Capitula usually small, few-flowered, 

 corymbose. Involucral bracts in several rows. Pappus of many 

 soft feathery hairs. Fniit beaked. 



Lactuca perennis L. 



Capitula large, blue, on long stalks. Involucral bracts cordate. 

 Stem very thick, 10-18 inches high, glabrous, branched. Leaves 

 pinnatifid, with narrow segments ; upper ones lanceolate. 



Sunny rocks and hillsides up to 4500 feet, especially on lime- 

 stone ; local. May to July. 



Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe. 



The four English species, with yellow flowers, are-sometimes seen 

 in the lower hills of Switzerland, viz. Lactuca muralis Fresn., leaves 

 lyrate-pinnatifid ; common in woods and under walls. L. virosa L., 

 leaves bristly beneath ; waste places. L. Scariola L., leaves less 

 prickly, capitula smaller ; stony places. L. saligna L., leaves 

 scarcely ever bristly, linear, entire, arrow-shaped ; capitula sessile, 

 crowded ; flowers pale yellow. Occasional in Western Switzerland. 



MuLGEDiUM Cass. 



Capitula corymbose. Involucral bracts in several rows, few. 

 Flowers blue. Fruit beaked, with a crest of bristles. Pappus-hairs 

 soft, slender, silvery. Tall, robust herbs. 



Mulgedium alpinum Lessing (Sonchus alpinus L.). (Plate XXVII.) 



Stem 2-4 feet high, purplish, glandular-hairy at the top, branched 



and leafy. Inflorescence a dense corymb. Leaves glabrous, 



except on the dorsal nerve, lyrate-pinnatifid, the last segment 



