﻿( 150 .) 



LAPSA'NA* * * * § . 



Linnean Class and Order. Syngene'sia f, Polyga'mia 

 Equa'lisJ. 



Natural Order. Compo'sit>e§, Adanson. Tribe, Cichora'- 

 CEA2, Lindl. Syn. pp. 140 & 142 ; Introd. to Nat. Syst. pp. 197 & 

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

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

 Rich, by Macgilliv. p. 454. — Syrtngales ; subord. Asteros^e; 

 sect. Asterinas: subsect. Asteriana2; type, Cichoracea-: ; 

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

 Linn. 



Gen. Char. Involucrum ( common calyx ) (fig. 1.) double, egg- 

 shaped ; outermost of a few small, short, egg-shaped or strap-shaped, 

 scattered, close scales ; inner of rather more numerous, strap-shaped, 

 channelled, keeled, pointed, nearly equal, permanent ones. Corolla 

 compound, imbricated, uniform ; florets (fig. 2.) several (about 16), 

 perfect, equal, strap-shaped, broadish, blunt, with 5 teeth. Fila- 

 ments (see fig. 3.) 5, hair-like, very short. Anthers united into a 

 cylindrical tube. Germen (see figs. 2 & 3.) rather oblong, small. 

 Style (see fig. 3.) thread-shaped, as long as the stamens. Stigmas 

 spreading. Seed-vessel none, except the permanent, converging, 

 inner calyx. Seed (figs. 4 & 5.) oblong, slightly angular, fur- 

 rowed, smooth. Down none. Receptacle (fig. 6.) naked, flat, 

 narrow. 



Distinguished from other genera, in the same class and order, 

 by the small scales at the base of the involucrum ; the naked 

 receptacle ; and the quickly deciduous seeds destitute of down. 



Two species British. 



LAPSA'NA COMMU'NIS. Common Nipple-wort. Swine’s 

 Succory. Dock Cress. 



Spec. Char. Calyx after flowering angular. Stem branched, 

 panicled, leafy. Leaves egg-shaped, stalked, toothed. Flower- 

 stalks slender. 



Engl. 13ot. t. 844.— Curt. l'l. Lond. t. . — Linn. Sp. PI. p. 1141. — Huds. 



FI. Angl. (2nd ed.) p. 347.— Sm. FI. Brit. v. ii. p. 842. Engl. FI. v. iii. p. 377. — 

 With. (7th ed.) v. iii. p. 903.— Gray’s Nat. Arr. v. ii. p.414. — Lindl. Syn. p. 



Fig. 1. Involucrum, or common Calyx. — Fig. 2. A separate Floret. — Fig. 3. 

 The 3 Filaments, with the Anthers united, forming a tube, through which the 

 style passes. — Fig. 4. A Seed. — Fig. 5. The same magnified.— Fig. 6. The 

 Receptacle, with 5 of the scales of the involucrum. 



* From lapazo, Gr. to purge ; from its laxative qualities. IIookeb. 



Dr. Withering says, that “ Lapsand yivere” is proverbial, signifying to 

 live hard ; in allusion to C/esah’s army, which is reported to have sustained life 

 for some time at Dyrrhachium by using the roots of this herb; but our plant 

 being annual, and its roots little more than fibrous, we apprehend the passage 

 of Pliny, xix. 9, must refer to some other vegetable. Bot. Arr. 



t See Tussilago farfara , folio 91. { See Sonckus oleraceus, folio 147. 



§ See Prenanthes muralis, folio 27, a. 



