380 THE BOTANICAL EXCHANGE CLUB OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 
Attention is directed to the following characters, many of 
which are recognisable even in the dried specimens : — 
{a) prcecox, Trow. This form has a somewhat zig-zag stem, 
with few, but long internodes ; the leaves are nearly plane, and not 
deeply pinnatifid or pinnatisect, as in the other types ; the main 
axis is soon overtopped by the uppermost branch ; and the capitula 
are relatively small and slender. The first head of seeds is pro- 
duced 72 days after the date of sowing; this interval of time may 
be styled a “ generation.” 
{/}) genevensis, Trow. Early like pnecox ; a generation = 75 
days. Stems stronger, with more interuodes ; leaves more -fid, 
almost -sect, giving the plant a characteristic “ bitten ” appearance. 
A stronger, later pnecox: the only groundsel apparently of the 
vineyards around Montreux. 
(c) erectus. Trow. This form has many rather short and stout 
internodes and a straight erect stem ; the leaves are pinnatisect, 
yellow-green, and strikingly pectinate when half developed, especi- 
ally near the apex of the stem. Capitula of medium size. A 
generation = 83 days. 
{d) erectus, var. radiatus, Trow. The radiate form of the 
preceding type, and the plant which Hemsley named ridgaris, var. 
radiatus. It is indistinguishable from the preceding type until the 
flowers begin to mature. A generation = 83 days. It has been 
tested side by side with erectus for four generations, and is perfectly 
constant. I’lie ray florets are long — no doubt causing many botanists 
to suspect an origin from squalidus — are revolute only at night or in 
old flowers; and the number varies from 8 to 13. This is not the 
plant figured by Sowerby. It occurs in several parts of Glamorgan, 
and also at Swindon and Cambridge. 
{e) latifolius, Trow. A robust erectus ; being taller, stronger 
and broader leaved than it. In the sense in which the term is used 
by most British botanists, it is a “ variety ” of erectus. It is not a 
“ state,” as so many forms of groundsel prove to be. 
(/) miilticaulis, Trow. Recognisable by the following char- 
acters : — (i) dark green colour; (2) leaves like those of erectus, but 
longer; (3) large capitula ; (4) soft yellow colour of the disc ; (5) 
browning of the florets after pollination ; (6) the crowding of the 
nodes at the base of the stem ; and hence (7) the production of 
many stems later from the middle of the leaf-rosette ; (8) long 
narrow bracts ; and (9) large cotyledons. A generation = 90 days. 
In all these types, the date of sowing was March 30th. Hence 
t>rcecox is early, multicaulis is late, and erectus intermediate. 
{g) lanuginosus. Trow. The distinguishing characters are : — 
(i) ray-florets much smaller than in erectus, var. radiatus, and more 
obviously tridentate; (2) the constant and pronounced hairiness 
