﻿FI. Devon, pp. 1'29 & 154. — Johnston's FI. of Berwick , vot. i. p. 172. — Walk. 

 FI. of Ox I', p. 222. — Bali. FI. Hath, p 28. — Mack. (Jal.nl. of I’l.of liel. p.69. — 

 Satichus Icevis, Ray’s Syn. p. 162. — Johnson’s Gerarde, p. 292. 



l.oCAT.niF.s. — In cultivated and waste ground. Very common. 



Annual. — Flowers from June to September. 



Root simple, tapering, fibrous, whitish, and milky. Stem from 

 1 to 3 feet high, upright, branched, round, smooth, hollow, leafy, 

 and very brittle. Leaves embracing the stem, smooth on both 

 sides, somewhat succulent, very variable in shape ; the lower ones 

 generally pinnatifid or runcinate, the terminal lobe large and tri- 

 angular ; the upper ones frequently entire, egg-shaped, pointed, 

 with a broad base; all more or less toothed, and sometimes very 

 prickly at the edges. Flower-stalks cymose or somewhat umbel- 

 late, axillary and terminal, clothed, more especially near the 

 flowers, with a peculiarly soft, white cottony web, which after a 

 while falls off, and leaves them smooth and naked. Bracteas few, 

 spear-shaped, partly toothed. Calyx smooth, glaucous, cylindri- 

 cal, and truncate before flowering, afterwards bellying out, and 

 forming a cone. Corolla pale yellow. Seed (fig 5.) oblong, flat- 

 tened, grooved, roughish. Down sessile, simple, very fine. 



Few plants are subject to vary so much as the common Sow- 

 thistle. Sir J. E. Smith and Dr. Withering describe 7 va- 

 rieties ; namely — 



1. Smooth Jagged Sow-thistle ; Sonchus lavis, Ray’s Syn. p. 162. 



2. Smooth Broad Sow-thistle ; S. I avis minor , paucioribus laci- 



niis , Ray’s Syn. p. 163. 



3. Prickly Jagged Sow-thistle ; S. asper laciniatus, Ray’s Syn. 



p. 163. 



4. Prickly-dented Sow-thistle ; S. asper non laciniatus, Ray’s Syn. 



p.' 163. 



5. Round-leaved Sow-thistle ; S', subrotundo folio nostras, leevissi- 



mis spinulis circa foliorum oras exasperatus. Dill, in Ray’s 

 Syn, p. 163. 



6. Narrow-leaved Sow-thistle; S. arpvWoKavXts, angusto et ob- 



longo folio nostras, per foliorum ambitum creberrimis spi- 

 nulis asperatus. Dill, in Ray’s Syn. p. 163. 



7. Stemless Sow-thistle. This variety was found, by Dr. Wither- 



ing, on Portland Island. The flowers were sessile close 

 upon the root. Possibly the effect of its maritime situ- 

 ation. Withering. 



The whole plant is milky and bitter, and seems to have nearly the same pro- 

 perties as Dandelion and Succory ; but it appears to have been little regarded 

 as a medicine. It is a favourite food with ban s and rabbits ; and is said to be 

 eaten by goats, sheep, and swine, but not to be relished by horses. The young 

 tender leaves are in some countries boiled and eaten as gieens ; and it is even 

 affirmed, that the tender shoots of the smooth variety, boiled in the manner of 

 Spinach, are superior to any greens not in common use. 



A very pretty parasitic fungus, Uretlo Sou eh; of Dr. G rfvjmf’s Flora 

 Edincnsis , p. 441 , is common on the under sutlace of the leaves of this spec, 

 a n,l Sonclws arvensi.s, in the summer. 



