FLEABANE. 



fulicaria dysenterica. Nat. Ord., 

 Composites. 



'HOUGH possibly not so attrac- 

 tive as many species, the golden 

 stars of the fleabane enrich to 

 the botanist the appearance of 

 many a bit of poor land or moist 

 waste, and contribute not a little 

 to beautify spots that would be 

 bare of blossom without them. 

 This flower's favourite localities 

 are wet pasture lands, the sides of 

 ditches, and waste ground by 

 roadsides, where good road-mak- 

 ing has not come in and carried 

 away the superfluous moisture. The 

 chosen spots for such attractive plants 

 as the lady's smock, the forget-me-not, the 

 king-cup, have almost, or quite, lost these 

 blossoms before the fleabane appears upon 

 the scene : this comes at a time when there is little else 

 to compete with it ; August and September being the 

 months in which it should be looked for. Though very 

 generally distributed throughout England, it is one of 

 the rarer plants of Scotland, while in Ireland it appears to 

 be common in the south and gradually growing scarcer as 



