SYNGENESIA. SUPERFLUA. Senecio. 935 
Buttee'-bur. Pestilent-wort. (Irish: Pubboll. Welsh: Dail y tryfan. 
Gaelic : An gallan mor. E.) Moist meadows and banks of rivers, not un¬ 
common. Dishley mill: moist meadows near Loughborough, Leicestershire. 
Dr. Arnold. Very common about Manchester, the banks of the Irwell are 
crowded with it. It will shoot up from four inches to four feet during the 
time of flowering. Mr. Caley. (Near the river Wherf between Ilkley and 
Skipton. Teesdale. Near Leeds, plentifully. Rev. W. Wood. Near 
Sleningford ; also Magdalene Banks, near Tanfield. Rev. J. Dalton. 
Plentifully in the Mill-yard at Lenton, in the road to Woollaton Hall, 
Nottinghamshire. Deering. Banks of Tyne, at the foot of Scots Wood 
Dean. Winch Guide. On a Willow bed at Hoo-mill, Warwickshire. 
Purton. E.) P. March—April.* 
SENE'CIO.f Rece.pt. naked : Down hair-like, long: Calyx 
conical, double; scales shrivelled at the ends. 
(1) Florets all tubular. (S. viscosus.) 
S. vulgaris. Leaves winged-indented, embracing the stem: flowers 
scattered. 
Curt. — (E. Bot. 747. E.)—I "Lnipli, 6— FI. Ban. 513— Blackw. 132— Wale .— 
Trag. 285— Bod. 641. 2— Matth. 1132— Lome. i. 96. 2— Lob. Ohs. 112. 
2, and Ic. i. 225. C 2—Ger. Em. 278. 1 —Park. 671— H. Ox. vii. 17. 1— 
Pet. 17. 5— Ger. 217. 2— Fuchs. 286. 
Calyx, scales at the base spear-shaped, purplish black about one third of 
their length. Blossoms yellow, terminal. (Stem six to twelve inches 
high, upright, branched, leafy, almost panicled, angularly-cylindrical, 
nearly smooth. Leaves alternate. Stigma cloven in two, at length pro¬ 
truding. Seeds furrowed, pubescent. Bown sessile, rough. Receptacle 
tumid, dotted, smooth. FI. Brit. E.) 
Common Groundsel. (Simson. Welsh: Greulys; Penfelenfeni/w. Gaelic: 
Am bualan. E.) Cultivated ground, rubbish, and court yards. 
A. April—Sept.f 
* Tin? roots abound with a resinous matter. They have a strong smell and a bitterish 
acrid taste, (but have long lost their credit for the medicinal powers which once gave the 
plant a name. E.) Horses, cows, goats, and sheep eat it. Its large leaves, (equalling a 
hat in circumference, E.) afford shelter from showers to poultry and other small animals, 
Linn., and are hollowed like a bonnet, by the Greeks called vrsTacro;, whence the trivial 
name. The early flowering of this herb induces the Swedish farmers to plant it near the 
bee hives, (but, however productive it may be of honey, its polypus-like propensity should 
deter from introducing it unwarily. Curtis relates that a piece of Butter-bur root only 
two inches long, and the thickness of the little finger, after having been planted eighteen 
months was dug up, when it appeared that many shoots had extended six feet, and pene¬ 
trated two feet in depth ; the whole weighed eight pounds. E ) 
(Derived from senea ,-, an old man ; alluding to the hoary appearance as exhibited in S . 
tenuif’jlius. E.) 
+ A. strong infusion of the plant acts as an emetic. The bruised leaves area good appli¬ 
cation to boils. The seeds are very acceptable to linnets and goldfinches when confined in 
cages. Cows are not fond of it. Goats and swine eat it. Horses and sheep refuse it. Linn.— 
A horse eat it. St. (Agrostis exclamation^, Arctia villica and other insects feed upon it. 
This is one of the most troublesome of the underling weeds which infest arable lands and 
gardens, and generally increase from negligence. The remedy is obviously to fallow and 
practice more careful husbandry. Dr. Swediaur recommends this plant as an anthelmintic, 
and the juice is given internally to discharge bots from horses. E.) 
