42 



JOUKNAL OF THE EOYAL HOKTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 



oval or oblong-spathulate, stalked, and smooth; the first true leaves are 

 entu-e, narrowly or broadly oval, and notched. As the seedling grows 

 the leaves become more deeply notched, until they are irregularly 

 coarsely toothed and pinnatifid. 



Nipplewort (fig. 13) is another composite annual weed which some- 

 times occurs plentifully in gardens, especially, it appears, on loamy and 

 clayey soils, attaining from one to four feet in height. The heads of 

 yellow florets are in loose clusters on slender stalks. Thorough hoeing 

 will keep this weed within bounds. 



The cotyledons are broadly oval (-g- in. long), and have rather long 

 stalks (fig. 14). The first true leaves are inclined to be irregularly 

 round or roundish-oval, and contract into the petiole. In the mature 

 plant the lower leaves are lyrate, membranous, and contracted into 

 the petiole, while the terminal lobe is very large, with waved margin; 



Fig. 14. — Seedlings of Nipplewort (Lapsana communis L.). 

 a, h, c, progressive stages of seedlings. Natural size. 



the upper leaves are scattered, small, entire or toothed, and much 

 longer than broad. 



Burdock is yet another composite weed, this time an erect branched 

 biennial of grass land (fig. 15). The seedling become established in one 

 year, and in the succeeding season develops rapidly into tall bushy plants, 

 with large deep-seated roots; large, stalked, nearly heart-shaped pointed 

 {eaves, very cottony beneath ; small purple fl.owers in globose heads one 

 inch in diameter and clothed with stiff spiny hooked bracts, which aid in 

 the distribution of the weed. (The name Arctium m from the Greek 

 arktos, a bear, denoting the rough heads or " burs "). It may be men- 

 tioned that a year or two ago an advertisement in the form of a paper 

 butterfly, each copy bearing a " bur " of the burdock, was being widely 

 distributed, and in one of the Australian Colonies the Department of 



