Scabiosa.] XLII. DIPSACEjE. 221 



Florets 5-lobed. Involucel with a spreading, scarious border. 



Fruit crowned by 5 bristles 2. S. Columbaria. 



Florets 4-lobed. Involucel very short. Fruit crowned by 



minute teeth 3. S. arvensis. 



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. — Kootstock 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 Eussian 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 3 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. Keceptacle 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. Knautia 

 arvensis, Coult. 



In pastures, open woods, waste and cultivated places, throughout 



