﻿( 147 .) 



SO'NCHUS* *. 



Linnean Class and Order. Synqene'sia f, Poi.YGA^MJA 

 Equa'lis+. 



jValural Order. Compo'sit Adanson. Tribe, Cichora'- 

 C.EjE, Lind. Syn. pp. 140 & 142 ; Introd. to Nat. Syst. pp. 197 & 

 201. — Loud. Hort. Brit. pp. 520 & 521. — Cichoraceas, Juss. 

 Gen. PI. p. 168. — Sm. Gram, of Bot. p. 120. — Synanthe're,e, 

 Rich, by Macgilliv. p.454. — Syringales; subord. Asterosa=: ; 

 sect. Asterinte ; subsect. Asterian.® ; type, Cichoracea: ; 

 Burn. Outl. of Bot. pp. 900, 901, 920, 924, & 935. — Composite?, 

 Linn. 



Gen. Char. Involucrum ( common calyx ) (fig. 1.) oblong, im- 

 bricated with numerous, stjap-shaped, unequal, pointed scales, 

 swelling at the base. Corolla compound, imbricated, uniform ; 

 florets (fig. 2.) numerous, perfect, equal, strap-shaped, blunt, with 

 4 or 5 teeth. Filaments (see fig. 3.) 5, hair-like. Anthers (see 

 fig. 2, b.) united into a cylindrical tube. Germen (see fig. 2.) rather 

 inversely egg-shaped. Style (see fig. 3.) thread-shaped, as long 

 as the stamens. Stigmas (see figs. 2 & 3.) reflexed. Seed-vessel 

 none, the permanent involucrum converging into a depressed, 

 roundish, pointed form. Seed (ahenium of Richard, ) (figs. 4 & 5,) 

 oblong, roughish. Down (pappus) simple, hair-like, sessile. 

 Receptacle (see fig. 6.) naked, dotted. 



The simple, imbricated calyx, swelling at the base ; sessile, sim- 

 ple down ; and naked receptacle ; will distinguish this from other 

 genera, with strap-shaped florets, in the same class and order. 



Four species British. 



SO'NCHUS OLERA'CEUS. Common Sow-thistle. 



Spec. Char. Flower-stalks cottony, somewhat umbellate. In- 

 volucrum smooth. Leaves runcinate ; upper ones spear-shaped, 

 clasping the stem by their arrow-shaped base ; all toothed. 



Engl. Hot. t. 84.3.— Curt. FI. Lond. t. 123. — Linn. Sp. PI. p. 1116. — 1 1 mis. 

 FI. A ngl. (2nd ed. ) p. 336. — Sm. FI. Brit. v. ii. p. 817. Engl. FI. v. iii. p. 343. 

 — With. (7lli ed.) v. iii. p. 884.— Cray's Nat. Air. v. ii. p. 419. — Lindl. Syn. p. 

 156 — Hook. Brit. FI. p 3o9.— I.ightf. FI. Scot. v. i. p. 428. — Sibth. FI. Oxon. 

 p.237. — Abbot’s FI. Bed!, p. 169. — Putt. Midi. FI. v. ii. p. 370. — Relh. FI 

 Cantab. (3rd edit.) p. 317. — Hook. FI. Scot, p.227. — Grev. FI. Edin. p. 166.— 



Fig. 1. Calyx. — Fig. 2. A separate Floret, showing the germen, pappus, style, 

 and stigma, and the 5 united anthers, b. — Fig. 3. I’he 5 united Anthers, with' 

 their distinct Filaments and the Style, and Stigma. — Fig. 4. Seed and Pappus.— 

 Fig. 5. The same magnified. — Fig. 6. The receptacle. 



* Sonclios, in Greek; from somphos, Gr. soft, in allusion to the soft nature 

 of the stems. Hr. Hooker. 



t See Tussilago farfura , folio 91. 



i From atqnus, equal in all parts : the first order of the 19th class of the 

 Linnean System ; comprehending all those plants with compound flowers, in 

 which each sepaiate floret is perfect, being furnished with its own perfect sta- 

 mens and pistil, and capable of bringing its seeds to maturity without the assist- 

 ance of any other floret, 

 d See Prenanthes mnralis, folio 27, a. 



