T 54 
WILD FLOWERS OF THE BRITISH ISLES 
with the long white calyx-hairs (pappus). Stem 1-4 feet high, not winged, the leaves clasping the 
stem (amplexicaul), spinous, glossy, deep green variegated with white, and having milk-white veins. 
Not uncommon. Waste places. June — August. Biennial. 
SAUSSUREA. (SAUSSUREA, DC.) — Flower-heads oval, in terminal clusters (corymbs). 
Florets all tubular and perfect, purple, the anthers lengthening into a tail. Flower-bracts entire, 
broadly egg-shaped (ovate). Calyx-tube surmounted with a border and 2 rows of minutely toothed 
or feathery hairs ; petals 5, all united into a tube and separating into 5 short teeth (tubular) ; 
stamens 5, with the united anthers lengthened into a tail ; carpels 2, united ; fruit an achene 
crowned with the calyx-border and the minutely toothed or feathery calyx-hairs (pappus). Small 
herbs, not spiny, the leaves often being woolly underneath. 
Alpine Saussurea. (Saussurea alpina, DC.) — The only British species (as just 
described). The flower-heads woolly and very shortly stalked, 4-12 clustered in a dense, 
terminal mass (corymb) ; the florets pale purple with the scent of heliotrope ; the flower-bracts 
blunt, the outer purple and the inner greenish, covered with long, dense hairs. The stem 
3-18 inches high, erect, stout, furrowed, woolly, not branched (simple), very leafy; the leaves 
lance-shaped, more or less sharply toothed (dentate), dull green, grey and woolly beneath. 
Root creeping. 
Rare. On mountains in Scotland, Wales, and the Lake District. August — September. Perennial. 
SAW-WORT. (SERRATULA, LINN.) — Flower-heads egg-shaped (ovate) or nearly round. 
Florets all tubular, perfect or without stamens (female) on one plant and without carpels (male) 
on another (dioecious), crimson, purple, or white. Flower-bracts entire, not spiny. Calyx-tube 
surmounted with a slight border and several rows of unequal, simple hairs ; petals 5, all united 
into a tube and separating into 5 short teeth (tubular) ; stamens 5, with the anthers united, or o ; 
carpels 2, united, or o ; fruit an achene, flattened, crowned with the calyx-border and hairs. Herbs 
with leaves with toothed (serrate) margins. 
Common Saw-wort. (Serratula tinctoria, Linn.)— The only British species (as 
just described). The flower-heads few, smallish, stalked, in a loose terminal mass ; the 
florets purple, on one plant with carpels, and white sterile anthers (female), on another, with dark 
blue fertile anthers, and no carpels (male) ; the flower-bracts egg-shaped and smooth, the inner 
tinged with purple; the stem 1-3 feet high, wiry, angular, and slender; the upper leaves deeply 
lobed towards the midrib (pinnatifid) and strongly toothed, the lower and root (radical) leaves 
entire with bristly margins, dark green. \Plate 72. 
Fairly common. On hill-sides, bushy places, etc. August — September. Perennial. 
KNAPWEED. (CENTAUREA, LINN.) — Flower-heads oval, solitary, on long stalks forming 
very loose clusters. Florets all tubular, the outer (ray) generally larger, without stamens and 
without carpels (neuter), unsymmetrical, elongated, and trumpet-shaped ; of the centre (disk) with 
stamens and carpels (perfect) ; purple, rose, crimson, blue, white, or yellow. Flower-bracts 
membranous, sometimes spiny or fringed. Calyx-tube with a border, and with or without several 
rows of hairs ; petals 5, all united into a tube and separating into 5 teeth (tubular) ; stamens 5, 
with the anthers united, or o ; carpels 2, united, or o ; fruit an achene crowned with the calyx-border 
and with the calyx-hairs when present (pappus). Herbs with the upper leaves generally strap- or 
lance-shaped, the lower generally deeply lobed, and the flower-stems tough and wiry and thickened 
beneath the flower-heads. 
