S56 COMPOSITE. [Gnaphaliuni. 



purplish and downy, very leafy. Leaves sessile, scattered, very small, the larjj;est 

 scarcely ahove an inch long, dull grayish gveen, waved and twisted, their edges 

 uneven but not serrated, pointed and hairy ; at the forks of the branches more 

 or less clasping. Flowers solitary, at the end of each ramification, very small 

 (not J- an inch across), dark yellow, with a pleasant odour when bruised, somewhat 

 resembling that of ginger or the leaves of the Sweet Gale (Myrica Gale), other- 

 wise nearly scentless. Involucre truly hemispherical, very hairy, with several 

 rows of unequal, linear-lanceolate, erect brads, which are green, with pale edges, 

 the tips of the lower ones often a little spreading but not recurved. Florets of the 

 circumference with suberect, concave, .'5 -toothed and very short rays, scarcely 

 exceeding the involucral bracts ; those of the disk very numerous, 5-clefl, the seg- 

 ments acute, sprinkled with glandular points, tube nearly cylindrical throughout 

 (not suddenly enlarged at the top as in most plants of this order). Anthers mem- 

 branaceous, with a pair of short bristles at the base of each. Styles exserted, 

 bifid, the segments obtuse, spreading. Achenium brownish oblong, without ribs 

 or striae, covered with erect bristles. Pappus double, outer cup-shaped, deeply 

 cleft into acute, bristle-like and jagged teeth ; inner of a few hairs about half as 

 long as the florets. Receptacle plane, quite naked, the margins of the shallow 

 alveoli smooth. 



This species is readily distinguished from the much commoner P. dysenterica 

 by its humbler, more branched and diffuse habit, much smaller, less hoary leaves 

 and stem ; by its paler, much less conspicuous flowers, not half the size of that 

 species;. by the truly hemispherical calyx ; extremely short ray ; and, lastly, by 

 the pappus, which in P. vulgaris is scarcely half the length of the florets. This 

 species has a much more limited range than the, last, being mostly restricted to 

 the S.E. counties of England, and is as yet unrecorded as a native of either Scot- 

 land or Ireland. On the Continent it does not extend so far North as Scandi- 

 navia. 



X. Gnaphalium, Linn. Cudweed. 



" Heads heterogamous, with one or numerous rows of filiform 

 pistillate florets in the circumference. Pappus pilose. Recep- 

 tacle flat and quite naked. Involucre imbricated, the scales sca- 

 riose towards the extremity. Anthers with bristles at the base. 

 Style of the perfect florets with short truncated branches ciliated 

 at the apex." — Br. Fl. 



1. G. uliginosum, L. Marsh Cudweed. " Stem very much 

 branched diffuse woolly, leaves linear-lanceolate downy, heads in 

 terminal crowded tufts which are shorter than the leaves." — Br. 

 i^Z. p. 232. .E. .B.t. 1194. 



In sandy, gravelly and muddy spots where water has stood, in half-dried-up 

 ditches, pools and pits, and in bare damp places by roadsides, &c. ; common. 

 Fl. July — September. 0. 



The steins of this plant are often close-pressed to the ground, and not at all 

 erect or even ascending, as I find it at Sandown and elsewhere. 



? 2. G. sylvaticum, L. Highland Cudweed. " Stem simple 

 nearly erect downy, heads axillary forming an interrupted leafy 

 spike, leaves linear-lanceolate downy." — Br. Fl. p. 232. G. erec- 

 tum, Huds. : E.B.i. 124. 



In dry sandy woods, thickets, pastures and heathy places ; said to inhabit the 

 Isle of Wight, but I have never met with it myself, or seen indigenous specimens 

 from others. Fl. July — September. 2|.. 



For a notice of the periodical appearance and disappearance of this species in 



