406 Ordee 69.— DIPSAOELE. 



calyx. — (g) Plants stout, prickly. Lvs. opposite, connate (sometimes 

 distinct) at base. Heads oblong, the middle zone of florets first ex- 

 panding. (Fig. 206.) 



1 D. sylv^stris Mill. "Wild Teasel. Lvs. connate, sinuato or jagged; hda 

 oylindrioal; bracts of the involucre longer than the heads of fls., slender and 

 pungent, bent inwards ; chaff of the receptacle pungent, not hooked. — A tall, this- 

 tle-like plant, growing in hedges and by roadsides, Mass. to Ind. St. about 4f 

 high, angled and priclsy, with the opposite, lanoe-shaped lvs. united around it, 

 pis. bluish, in a large oval, or cylindrical head whose bracts are not hooked, as 

 in the ne.xt species, but straight. Jl. § Bur. 



2 D. Fulldnum L. FrrLLBR's Teasel. Lvs. connate, entire or serrate; hd. 

 cyUndrical ; bracts hooked ; invol spreading. — Gardens. Bt. fleshy, tapering. St. 

 erect, farrowed, prickly, hollow, about 5f high. Lvs. 2 at each node, united at 

 their bases around the stem in such a way as to hold a quantity of water, lis. 

 whitish, in large oval or ovoid heads. Cultivated for the use of the clothiers 

 (fullonum) who employ the heads with their hard, hooked scales to raise the nap 

 upon woolen cloths. Jl. ^ Eur. 



2. SCABIO^SA, L. Soabish. .(Lat. scabies, leprosy ; plants said to 

 cure cutaneous diseases.) Flowers in heads ; involucre many-leaved ; 

 involuoel nearly cylindrical, with 8 little excavations ; calyx limb con- 

 sisting of 5 setae, sometimes partially abortive. — 7i Large, mostly Euro- 

 pean herbs with opposite lvs. 



1 S. STiocisa L. Devils'-bit. Bt. premorse ; st. lvs. remotely toothed, hda 

 of fls. nearly globous ; cor. in 4 equal segments. — In gardens, tliough rarely cul- 

 tivated. The stem is about If high. Corolla violet, j Bur. 



2 S. atropurpiirea L.*Mouenino Bride. Lvs. pinnatifid and incised, hds- 

 a( fls. radiant; receptacle cylindric; outer crown of the seed short, lobed and 

 crenate. — A beautiful species, 2 to 4f high, with dense heads of purple fls. \ 

 Native country unknown. 



Order LXX. COMPOSITjE. Asterworts. 



Plants herbaceous or shrubby, with compound Jknoers (of the old botanists) i. e., 

 Oie flowers in dense heads (capitula) surrounded by an invohicre of many bracts (scales), 

 wiih 5 united anthers and the fruit an acheniam (oypsela). Leaves alternate or oppo 

 site, exstipulate, simple, yet often much divided. Fls. (florets) oo, crowded, sessile, 

 on the receptacle with or without yate (chaff). Cal. adherent, tlie limb wanting or 

 divided into bristles, hairs, etc. (pappus). Cor. tubular, of 5 lobes with a marginal 

 vein, often ligalate or bilabiate. Stam. 5, alternate with the lobes of the corolla, 

 anthers cohering into a tube. Ov. 1-eeUed, witli 1 erect ovule; style single with 2 

 stigmas at summit. Pr. a cypsela (§ 557), dry, indohiscent, 1-seeded, often crowned 

 with a pappus. 



Illustrated in fl^s. B5, 118, 141, 142, 145, 146, ITO, 192, 193, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 824, 328, 829, 

 a30, 831, 832, 3-38, 384, 879, 416, 434. 



Qeriara 1000 or more, species 9000? tbe most extensive and the most natur.al of all the PhiBn- 

 ffamous Orders, nlw.avs distinguished at sight by the capitate flowers and the united anthers. 

 It comprehends nearly one-ninth of all the species of flowering plants. The general inflores- 

 cence is centrifugal, tliat is, the central or terminal heads are first developed, while the inflor- 

 escence of the heads is centripetal, the outer flowers first expanding. In color the flowers are 

 various; sometimes those of the disk and ray are of difl'erent colors, again they are all of the 

 the same, but in the former ease the disk florets are almost always yellow. 



This immense order is diffused throughout all countries of the globe, but in very different 

 proportions. According to Humbolt, they constitnte about one-seventh of the Phtenogamons 

 Flora of Gei-many, one-eighth, of France, one-fifteenth, of Lapland, one-sixth, of North America 

 (north of Mexico), and one-half, of Tropical America. In New Holland they are In the propor- 

 tion of about one-sixteenth, according to Brown, while in the island of Sicily they are one-half. 

 The Liguliflorai .are said to be most abundant in cold regions, and the Tnbuliilora) in hot regions. 

 The Liibiatiflone are almost exclusively confined to South America. In tlie northern parts of 

 the world the Compositse are universally herbaceous, but tow.irds the tropics they gradually 

 become frutescent and even trees. In Chili they are generally shrubs, and on the island of SL 

 Helena thoy ai e trees. 



Properties, t&c. — The Compositae furnish comparati^-ely few useful products, A bitter prin- 

 ciple pervades the whole, which, when combined with resin and astringent mulilage, becomeei 



