Helminthia.] composit^e. 883 



bose, peduncles with many braeteas, outer scales of the involucre 

 linear-oblong lax bristly on the keel." — Br. Fl. p. 202. E. B. t 

 196. 



On banks, by roadsides, in waste ground, along hedges, borders of fields and 

 woods ; very common in various places, though not generally diffused over the 

 island, i^^ June — October. 2^. 



E. Med. — Plentiful along the road from Shanklin to Bonchurch, and in Luc- 

 combe chine and East-end. Common in the Undeicliff, about Ventnor, Steep- 

 hill, St. Lawrence, &c. Frequent at Arrcton, Clialk-pit between Brading and 

 Yaverland. Under Ashey down, and at the S. end of Brading. Frequent in 

 fields and hedges under the S. side of Brading down, between Morton and Adge- 

 ton ; and on Morion shoot. Osborne wood, in plenty, Miss G. Kilderbee. 



W. Med. — Near Weston farm. Freshwater. Shore near Egypt. Abundant on 

 a ledge of the Freshwater cliffs, of about an acre in extent, called by the cliffsmen 

 Kosehall Green. Plentiful at the entrance of Shorwell (from Newport), and else- 

 where occasionally in that neighbourhood. In the valley between Apes down and 

 Rowledge. Long Bench, Rev. G. E. Smith. 



XXXV. Helminthia, Juss. Ox-tongue. 



" Achenes transversely striated, beaked. Pappus feathery. 

 Receptacle naked. Involucre double ; inner of 8 — 10 close scales; 

 outer of 3 — 5 shorter, lax, leafy ones." — Br. Fl. 



1. H. echioides, Geertn. Bristly Ox-tongue. " Outer scales of 

 the involucre 5 cordate crenate, stem erect hispid." — Br. Fl. p. 

 201. Picris, X,. : E.B. t. 972. 



A far more general plant than the last, occurring abundantly and often pro- 

 fusely on chalk and clay, over the greater part of the island, in woods and waste 

 places, by roadsides, on hedge- and ditch-banks, the borders of fields, &c. Fl. 

 June^October. 2^. 



jB. Med. — ^ About Byde, almost everywhere, as at Binstead, &c. Most abun- 

 dantly in the large copse at the West side of the mouth of the Woottim river, 

 growing even in very wet parts. 



W. Med. — Abundant in woods (on chalk) at Swainston, and in the Tolt copse, 

 near Gatcombe. About Yarmouth, plentifully. 



A handsome plant, of a full green colour. -Roo< tapering, milky. Stem 2 — 5 

 feet high, erect, rounded, striated, branched, very rough with stiff hairs or bristles 

 springing from tubercles, and which are found copiously clothing the leaves and 

 other parts. Leaves lanceolate, the lower ones on long petioles, those of the stem 

 semiamplexicaul, partly decurrent, with very broad, rounded, often unequal bases, 

 their surface covered with veiy prominent bristle -bearing papillae, hollow beneath. 

 Flowers solitary, or in clusters of 3 or 4 together at the end of the very irregularly 

 forked branches, about an inch broad, of a golden yellow, fully expanding in 

 bright weather only, and closing early in the afternoon. Involucral scales in two 

 rows, the inner 8, close, lanceolate-acute, shorter than the florets, each with an 

 awl-shaped fringed appendage a little below the summit, and reaching beyond it 

 to the tips of the florets ; the outer of about 12 very short, unequal, linear and 

 close-pressed scales at the base of the inner ; both surrounded by an involucre of 

 6 broad, heart-shaped, concave and nearly equal leaves. Florets all perfect, tube 

 of the corolla very hairy at the top. Receptacle downy. Seed reddish, a little 

 gibbous on one side and compressed, covered with transverse raised lines or ridges 

 running irregularly in a serpentine or vermiform manner ; beak very long and 

 slender. 



The resemblance of the rough hispid leaves and stem in our present plant to 

 the same parts in the common Viper's Bugloss (Echium vulgare) has suggested 

 the specific name. Though abundant in the S. of England, it is by no means 



