Localities.— In meadows and pastures, frequent. 
Perennial. — Flowers from July to October. 
Root oblong, blackish, nearly the thickness of the little finger, 
often growing obliquely ; abrupt at the lower end, so as to appear 
as if bitten off, furnished with long whitish fibres. Stem from a 
foot to 18 inches high, upright, round, rough with defiexed hairs, 
and often of a reddish colour. Root-leaves numerous, inversely 
egg-shaped, entire, on short foot-stalks, clothed on both sides with 
long rough hairs. Stem-leaves opposite, connate, spear-shaped, 
variously toothed, or coarsely serrated ; the uppermost nearly 
strap-shaped, and entire ; all dark green, harsh and hairy. Flowers 
in nearly globular heads, on lonsjish peduncles. Involucrum 
hairy, its leaves in 2 or 3 series (see fig 6). Outer calyx (involucel) 
4-sided, with 4 shallow clefts, fringed with white hairs ; inner 
calyx (see figs. 3 to 5) crowned with a concave, glandular recep- 
tacle, armed with 4 or 5 strong reddish-black bristles. Corolla 
(fig. 1.) dark purplish-blue, sometimes of a milk-white, very rarely 
of a pale purple. Filaments almost twice the length of the corolla ; 
anthers violet ; pollen white. Germen very small, whitish. Style 
about the same length as the corolla. Stigma round, flat, with a 
depression in the middle. Seed oblong, angular, grooved, beset 
with rough hairs, and crowned with 4 or 5 bristles. Receptacle 
conical, chaffy (see fig. 7). 
Haller observes, that the leaves are sometimes gashed, and that the flowers 
are sometimes proliferous. In cultivation the plant becomes more branched 
than in a wild state. The root is a good example of what, in botanical language, 
is termed Radix prcemorsa, a premorse, or abrupt root; this, however, accord- 
ing to Dr. Drummond, is only the case when the plant is above a year old, for 
during the first year it is fusiform (spindle-shaped) ; after that it becomes woody, 
dies, and rots, the upper part excepted, and this causes the eroded, or bitten-ofif 
appearance; while the new lateral branches shooting out from the part left, 
compensate the want of the old main root. Thus, says Dr. Withering, do 
science and truth dispel superstitious errors ; for in ages darkened by monkery, 
the faithful were taught implicitly to believe, in respect to the pretended virtues 
of this plant, that “ the Divell for envie that he beareth to mankind bitt it off, 
because it would be otherwise good for many uses hence the plant is commonly 
called Devil' s-bit. This appearance of an abrupt or stumped root is not pecu- 
liar to this plant, but is observed in some species of Plantago, Apargia, Va- 
leriana, and many other herbs. According to Bergius the root possesses an 
astringent quality, and the infusion of it is bitterish, but not unpleasant to the 
taste. Linnaus says, that the dried leaves are used to dye wool yellow or 
green. 
The caterpillers of Scsia Bombyliformis, Curt. Brit. Enlomol. v. i. t. 40. 
(sphinx fuci/ormis, y. Gm. Linn. Syst. Nat. v. i. pt. v. p. 2388 ) feeds upon this 
plant. See Mr. Curtis’s very beautiful work referred to above. 
