Botany for Ladies: or, A Popular Introduction to the Natural System of Plants, According to the Classification of De Candolle.Loudon, Mrs. (Jane)
Science
Botany for Ladies: or, A Popular Introduction to the Natural System of Plants, According to the Classification of De Candolle.
Loudon, Mrs. (Jane)
Botany; Plants -- Classification
The plants included in this tribe all bear more or less resemblance to
the common Daisy. In this well-known flower, the white florets are all
ligulate, and compose what is called the ray, and the yellow flowers,
which are tubular, are called the disk. The involucre is simple and
leafy, and the receptacle is conical. The seeds are without pappus. The
Chrysanthemum is nearly allied to the Daisy, and its seeds also are
destitute of pappus; but it is easily distinguished by its involucre,
which is scaly, and by the flower forming a kind of depressed globe in
the bud. The scales of the involucre are strongly marked, from being
edged with a thin membrane, and the florets of the ray are much longer
in proportion to those of the disk than in the Daisy. The great Ox-eye
Daisy, which was formerly called _Chrysanthemum leucanthemum_, is now
placed in a new genus, and called _Leucanthemum vulgare_; and the
Chinese Chrysanthemums have been removed to the genus _Pyrethrum_. Both
plants, however, will no doubt long continue to be called by their old
names. The beautiful yellow-flowered plant often found growing among
corn (_Chrysanthemum segetum_), the three-coloured Chrysanthemum (_C.
tricolor_ or _carinatum_), and the yellow annual Chrysanthemum (_C.
coronarium_), with some others, have been left by Professor De Candolle
in their old genus. In the Feverfew (_Pyrethrum_), the receptacle
is elevated, and the fruit is crowned with a narrow membrane. The
Pellitory of Spain was formerly considered to belong to this genus,
and afterwards to the Chamomile, but it is now called _Anacyclus
Pyrethrum_. _Matricaria Chamomilla_, the wild Chamomile, has also no
pappus; and in this plant the receptacle is almost cylindrical. The
true Chamomile (_Anthemis nobilis_) greatly resembles the Chrysanthemum
in its flowers; but they are distinguished by having a chaffy
receptacle, and the fruit having a membranous margin. The smell of
the Chamomile is aromatic, and its qualities highly tonic. The Yarrow
(_Achillea millefolium_) is another plant destitute of pappus, but with
a chaffy receptacle; it is also remarkable for its leaves, which are
doubly pinnatifid.
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