Localities. — About the borders of fields, in waste places, and by road-sides, 
chiefly on a gravelly or chalky soil. 
Perennial. — Flowers in July and August, 
Root spindle-shaped, fleshy, often more or less branched, of a 
yellowish colour externally, whitish within, milky. Stem from 
1 to 3 feet high, upright, angular, furrowed, alternately branched, 
very tough, solid, rough with bristly hairs, leafy. Root-leaves nu- 
merous, spreading, above a span long, runcinate, toothed, rough, 
on dilated petioles ; stem-leaves much smaller, sessile, less lobed, 
the upper ones heart-spear-shaped, entire. Flowers numerous, 
large and very handsome, of a beautiful bright, but pale, blue, 
sometimes white, all nearly or quite sessile, growing generally in 
pairs, in the axils of the uppermost leaves. Calyx composed of a 
double series of scales or leaves, the outer of which are 5 in num- 
ber, egg-shaped, pointed, somewhat spreading, and edged with 
glandular hairs ; innermost about 8, narrow and equal, forming an 
angular, clammy cylindar. Corolla of about 20, strap-shaped 
florets (see tig. 3.) each with a cylindrical, short, white tube, and a 
flat limb, with 5 deep teeth at the extremity. Filaments whitish. 
Anthers and Stigmas blue. Seed somewhat club-shaped, obscurely 
4-sided, blunt. Pappus of very small, upright, chaffy bristles. 
Receptacle slightly chaffy, with a few slender scales, shorter than 
the seed. 
The fine blue colour of the florets is convertible into a brilliant 
red by the acid of Ants ; and it is said, that in Germany the boys 
often amuse themselves in producing this change of colour by 
placing the blossoms in an Ant hill. 
In a wild state this very beautiful plant is considered little better 
than a troublesome weed. Its root is said to be tonic, and in large 
doses aperient. It has been used in chronic viscera and cutaneous 
diseases, especially in the form of decoction. A large-leaved va- 
riety is sometimes cultivated in gardens as an early salad, and 
occasionally in the fields, as a fodder for cattle. On the Continent 
it is of much repute for the sake both of its leaves and root ; the 
latter, when full grown, is cut into slices, roasted, ground down, 
and used instead of coffee, and, although it was first employed either 
to adulterate the Mocha drink, or as a poor substitute for it when 
the berry was too expensive for general consumption, its use is now 
established, and, when mixed with coffee, it is by some persons 
believed to improve its flavour. In France the young leaves are 
used in salads ; and the shoots from the root, blanched by being 
forced in a dark cellar, are much relished as a winter salad, under 
the name of Barbe-de-Capucin. Sometimes the roots are packed 
among moist sand in a barrel, having numerous round holes pierced 
in its sides ; the crowns of the roots being so placed, that the shoots 
may readily push their way through the holes ; by this method they 
are kept quite clean, and are very easily gathered as wanted, and 
repeated cuttings are obtained. See Mill. Gard. Diet. ; Neil's 
Hort. Tour. ; Burn. Outl. of Bot. ; and Loud. Encycl. of Garden- 
ing ; especially the latter, for further information respecting the 
culture, uses, &c., of this plant. 
