21 ENGLISn BOTANY. 
Achenes obovatc-prisrnatie, compressed, with prominent longitu- 
dinal lines, rugose, greyish-olive, often marbled with black. Pappus 
short, brittle, denticulate. Plant pale-green ; leaves generally 
whitish-cottony beneath. 
Greater Burdock. 
French, Bardane Commune. German, Gebriiuchh'che Klette. 
Dr. Prior tells as that " this plant is called clock, as many others are, from its 
large leaves, but why bur is uncertain. Some derive this syllable from the French 
bourre, Latin burnt, a lock of wool, such as we often find entangled in it. It may 
quite as probably be a corruption of bardana, or it may be a contraction of butter, 
from the leaf being used to wrap butter in." The stalks of the Burdock cut before 
the flower is open, and stripped of their rind, form a delicate vegetable when boiled, 
similar in flavour to asparagus. In the raw state they may be eaten with oil and 
vinegar as salad. They were sometimes candied with sugar in the time of Bryant, as 
those of Angelica are. They are slightly laxative, but perfectly wholesome. The seeds, 
which are bitter and slightly acrid, have been \ised in medicine. A decoction of the 
root forms one of the French pectoral ptisans ; it has also been recommended as a wash 
for ulcers, &c. The bruised leaves are applied by the peasantry in some districts as 
cataplasms to the feet, and as a remedy for hysterical disorders. Even those of us who 
are not botanically inclined must be well acquainted with the fruits of this plant in our 
country autumnal walks. The little hooks of the involucre have a troublesome tendency 
to adhere to everything with which they come in contact, and we may often see our 
own or our companions' garments inadvertently decorated with these little balls. 
One writer on plants says, "they seem to justify their name, lappa, which comes from 
a Celtic word, llap, a hand, for they appear to have the power of catching at every 
passer-by." Shakespeare makes Pandarus say of his kindred : — 
" They are burs, I can tell ye ; they 
Will stick where they are thrown." 
SPECIES II.— A RCTIUM MINUS. Schkuhr. 
Plates DCC. DCCI. DCCIL 
Lappa minor, Lam. Koch, Syn. Fl. Germ, et Helv. ed. ii. p. 463. 
A. Lappa, var. (3, I look. &, Am. Brit. Fl. ed. viii. p. 234. 
Radical leaves ovate or oblong, cordate, repand-denticulate 
or crenate or dentate ; petioles hollow. Anthodes in racemes at 
the extremity of the stem and principal branches. Pericline 
ovate-globular or ovate-ovoid in flower, arachnoid or glabrous; 
phyllaries narrowly subulate, as long as or shorter than the 
florets. Limb of the corolla cylindrical, tapering at the base, 
not constricted below the teeth, glabrous; tube about as long 
as the limb, much narrower at the base than the top of the 
fruit. 
