Scabiosa. | XLII. DIPSACEA, : 221 
Florets 5-lobed. Involucel with a spreading, scarious border. 
Fruit crowned by 5 bristles. : : ; P - : 
Florets 4-lobed. Involucel very short, Fruit crowned by 
minute teeth . ; : ; ; ; ; : é . 3. S. arvensis. 
2, 8S. Columbarvia. 
The annual sweet Scabious (S. atropurpurea) and some other exotic 
species are occasionally cultivated in our flower-gardens. [S. maritima, 
L., a south European species, or form of atropurpurea, is completely 
naturalised on the cliffs at Folkestone. ] 
1. S. succisa, Linn. (fig. 494). Devil’s-bit.—Rootstock short and 
thick, ending abruptly below as if it had been bitten off. Leaves 
mostly radical, stalked, ovate or oblong and entire, glabrous or with 
a few long hairs on the upper surface; those of the stem few and 
oblong, occasionally marked with 1 or 2 teeth. Stems 1 to 2 feet high, 
with 1 to 5 heads of deep blue flowers on long peduncles. Bracts of 
the involucre lanceolate, in 2 or 3 rows, the outer ones about as long 
as the flowers, the inner ones passing gradually into the pointed scales 
of the receptacle. Florets all nearly alike, 4-lobed, and but little 
oblique. Involucels tubular, angular, completely enclosing the ovary 
and fruit, bordered by very small, green teeth. Fruit crowned by the 
4 bristles of the calyx, which scarcely project beyond the involucel. 
In meadows, heaths, &c., throughout Europe and Russian Asia, except 
the extreme north. Abundant in Britain. Fl. summer and autumn. 
2. S. Columbaria, Linn. (fig. 495). Small S.—Stock perennial, tufted 
when old, and sometimes almost woody. Stems 1 to 2 feet high, in- 
cluding the long terminal peduncles, glabrous or slightly hoary. Leaves 
pinnate, the lower ones crowded, spreading, with an ovate or oblong 
terminal segment, and several smaller ones ; the stem-leaves few, with 
linear segments, entire or pinnatifid. Flowers of a pale purplish-blue. 
Involucres short. Scales of the receptacles small and linear. Florets 
5-lobed, the outer ones of each head much larger and more oblique. 
Involucel enclosing the fruit to near the top, where it is contracted, 
and then expands into a scarious, sinuate, cup-shaped border, in the 
centre of which appears the summit of the fruit, crowned by the 5 
bristles of the calyx. 
In pastures and waste places, very abundant all over central and 
southern Europe, extending eastward to the Caucasus, and northward 
to southern Scandinavia. Dispersed over a great part of England, 
especially near the east coast, along which it extends into west Scot- 
land, but does not occur in Ireland. Fl. summer and autumn. 
3. S. arvensis, Linn. (fig. 496). Field S.—A perennial, but of short 
duration, and often flowering the first year, more or less hairy, especially 
near the base, from 1 to 2 or even 8 feet high. Leaves very variable ; 
the radical ones usually lanceolate and stalked ; the upper ones broader 
at the base, and sessile ; all coarsely toothed or slightly lobed, but 
sometimes some or all are deeply cut or pinnate. Heads of flowers 
large, of a pale lilac-purple ; on long peduncles, the outer florets much 
larger and more oblique than the central ones, as in S. Columbaria, but 
all are 4-lobed. Involucre short. Receptacle with hairs only between 
the florets. Involucel very minute. Ovary and fruit angular, crowned 
by the 8 or 10 radiating teeth or short bristles of the calyx. A nautia 
arvensis, Coult. 
In pastures, open woods, waste and cultivated places, throughout 
