Lactuca. | XLII, COMPOSITAE. 263 
and spreading. Involucres 4 or 5 lines long, of a few imbricate bracts, the 
short, broad, outer ones passing gradually into the inner, long, narrow ones. 
Florets 6 to 10 or 12, of a pale yellow. Achenes much flattened, obovate- 
oblong, striated, varying in colour from nearly white to nearly black, with 
_a slender beak about the length of the achene. 
In dry or stony wastes, on banks and roadsides, in central and southern 
Kurope, extending over a great part of central Asia. Thinly scattered in Bri- 
tain, from southern England to the low tracts in the south-east Highlands 
of Scotland. #7. summer. The name of L. Scariola is often limited to 
the varieties with more erect leaves, with deeper and narrower lobes; and 
those with broader leaves, toothed only, and not so glaucous, have been con-» 
sidered as a distinct species, under the name of L. virosa, Linn, 
3. i. saligna, Linn. (fig. 588). Willow Lettuce.—Very near L. 
Scariola, but more slender and twiggy ; the leaves upright against thestem, 
and narrower ; the stiff panicles with branches so short that the flower- 
heads appear clustered in a simple spike; and the beak of the achene from 
‘twice to three times its own length, These characters are, however, so 
variable as to occasion some doubt whether the two species are really 
distinct. 
The commonest form in the Mediterranean and Caucasian regions, ex- 
tending to some parts of central Europe. Rare in Britain, and confined to 
the south-eastern counties from Suffolk to Sussex. £70. summer. 
4, i. alpina, Benth. (fig. 589). Alpine Lettuce.—Stock perennial, 
with erect stems, 2 to 3 feet high. Leaves much like those of Sonchus 
oleraceus, but with a much larger, broadly triangular, and pointed ter- 
minal segment. Panicle oblong almost narrowed into a raceme, more or 
less hispid with glandular hairs, Involucres narrow, of but few bracts, con- 
taining 12 to 20 deep-blue florets. Achenes oblong, but slightly flattened ; 
the hairs of the pappus ofa dirty white, and rather stiffer than in the other 
species. Sonchus alpinus, Linn, 
In moist, rocky situations, in northern and Arctic Europe and Asia, 
limited in central and southern Europe to mountain ranges. In Britain, 
only in the Lochnagar and Clova mountains, where it is now Roun very 
rare. Ll, summer, rather late. 
XXXV. SONCHUS. SOWTHISTLE. 
Erect, leafy herbs, either glabrous or with more or less glandular hairs on 
the panicles; the leaves usually pinnately lobed or coarsely toothed, and 
clasping the stem at the base; the flower-heads in terminal panicles, with 
numerous yellow florets. Involucre ovoid, with imbricated bracts, and 
usually becoming conical after flowering. Achenes flattened and striate, 
not beaked ; the pappus sessile, of numerous simple, white, silky hairs. 
A considerable genus, spread over the temperate regions of the northern 
hemisphere, distinguished from Lactuca by the sessile pappus, from Crepis 
and HMieracium by the flattened achenes. 
Perennials. Flower-heads large. Involucres hairy at the base, 
Marsh plant, the auricles of the leaves narrow andacute . . 2. &. palustris, 
Field weed, the auricles ofthe leaves short and broad . ‘ . 1. S. arvensis. 
Annuals, Flower-heads rather small and pale. Involucres glabrous 3. S. oleraceus. 
