I 
260 _ THE COMPOSITE FAMILY. [Leontodon. 
plant more or less hispid with erect, stiff, short hairs, often forked or 
stellate at the top. Leaves long and narrow, coarsely toothed or pinnatifid. 
Peduncles 6 inches-to a foot or more long, slightly swollen at the top, with — 
a single rather large flower-head. Bracts of the involucre narrow, and 
always hispid, the inner row much longer than the outer ones. Achenes — 
long, striate, and transversely rugose, slightly tapering at the top, but 
seldom distinctly beaked. Pappus of about a dozen brown, feathery hairs, 
about as long as the achene, surrounded by 5or 6 others nota quarter that — 
length. Apargia hispida, Willd. 
In meadows and pastures, very common in Europe, and eastward to the 
Caucasus and the Ural, except in the extreme north. Abundant in Britain, — 
as far north as Glasgow and Forfar. 7. the whole summer and autumn. 
A nearly glabrous variety (L. hastilis), frequent on the Continent, does not 
appear to have been found in Britain. 
2, L.autumnalis, Linn. (fig. 581). Autumnal Hawkbit.—Habit 
nearly of Hypocheris radicata, but with smaller flower-heads, and no scales 
between the florets. Leaves long, narrow, and pinnatifid, witha few narrow 
lobes, glabrous, or with a few long, stiff hairs. Flower-stems erect, usually 
with 1 or 2 single-headed branches, having sometimes 1 or 2 narrow, nearly 
entire leaves near the base; the branches or peduncles nearly glabrous, 
bearing a few small scales. Involucres oblong, tapering at the base into the 
enlarged summit of the peduncle, glabrous in the common variety, with 
closely appressed, imbricated bracts. Achenes long, striate, and transversely 
wrinkled, tapering into a short beak, scarcely perceptible in the outer ones. 
Pappus brown and feathery, without the short, outer hairs of L. hispidus. 
Apargia autumnalis, Willd. 
In meadows, pastures, and waste places, throughout Europe and Russian 
Asia, from the Mediterranean to the Arctic regions. Abundant all over 
Britain, Fl.summerand autumn. Aspargia Taraxaci, Sm., is a northern 
or alpine variety of dwarf stature, with the flower-stems often simple, and 
rather large flower-heads, the summit of the peduncle much enlarged, and 
the involucre more or less covered with black hairs. Not unfrequent in the 
Scotch Highlands. The true LZ. Zaraxaci, from the alps of central Europe, 
is quite a distinct plant. 
3. &. hirtus, Linn. (fig. 582). Lesser Hawkbit.—Usually a smaller 
plant than the last two, and glabrous, or with a few stiff, mostly forked 
hairs on the leaves and lower part of the peduncles. Leaves oblong or 
linear, coarsely toothed, sinuate or shortly pinnatifid. Peduncles seldom 
above 6 inches high, with a single rather small head of bright yellow 
flowers. Involucres green, glabrous, thickening at the base after flowering, 
consisting of 10 or 12 nearly equal bracts, with several small imbricated 
ones at the base. Achenes of the outer row curved, slightly tapering at the 
top, with a very short, scaly pappus; the others like those of LZ. hispidus. 
Thrincia hirta, Roth. 
In rather dry open pastures, moors, and waste places in central and 
southern Kurope, scarcely extending to its eastern limits, or northward to- 
the Baltic. Very common in England and Ireland, but found only in the — 
south-east of Scotland. £7. summer. : 
ee cr 
