. Field and woodland plants. y hau-s. The few leaves ofthe stem arenarrow, withshort teeth thatare only slightlyprickly. Thestem itselfg r o w s fro mtwelve to eigh-teen inches high,and is usuallyu n branched,with a singlehead of flowers ;sometimes, how-ever, it has oneor two branches,each terminat-ing in a tlower-head. Theinvolucre isglobular inform, coveredw i t h cottonyhairs, and com-posed of closely-placed bracts. The flo\\ers arc purple. The plantgrows chiefly in moist pastures, and flowers from June to August. The Black Knapweed or Hardliead {Centaiirea nigra) is a verj^common flower of
. Field and woodland plants. y hau-s. The few leaves ofthe stem arenarrow, withshort teeth thatare only slightlyprickly. Thestem itselfg r o w s fro mtwelve to eigh-teen inches high,and is usuallyu n branched,with a singlehead of flowers ;sometimes, how-ever, it has oneor two branches,each terminat-ing in a tlower-head. Theinvolucre isglobular inform, coveredw i t h cottonyhairs, and com-posed of closely-placed bracts. The flo\\ers arc purple. The plantgrows chiefly in moist pastures, and flowers from June to August. The Black Knapweed or Hardliead {Centaiirea nigra) is a verj^common flower of meadows and pastures, flowering from June toSeptember. Its stem is erect, tough, branched, from a few inchesto three feet in height. The leaves are long and narrow ; the upperones entire or nearly so, and clasping the stem ; and the lowercoarsely toothed or divided into lobes. The flower-head hassomewhat the a])pearance of a ])Ui|)le thistle, but the involucreis not pricklj\ The latter consists of an almost globular mass of. THE AUTUIINAL IlA\\KBIT. MEADOWS, FIELDS AND PASTURES—SUMMER 225 closely-overlapping bracts, the visible portions of which arc darkbrown or black fringes. The florets are generally all equal, butthe outer ones are sometimes larger than the others, and sterile. The Great Knapweed {Cenfaurea Scahiosa) is a somewhat similarplant, but usually larger, itsstout, branched stem beinggenerally two or three feethigh. It may be easily dis-tinguished by its largerflower-heads, the outer,neuter florets of which areconsiderably enlarged. Asa rule the florets are allpmple, but occasionally allare white, or the outer oneswhite and the others bracts of the involucreare broad, with a greencentre and a dark, downymargin. The fruit is sur-mounted by a pappus ofstiff, bristly hairs of aboutits own length. This plantis common in the south ofBritain, and flowers duringJuly and August. Two species of Fleabanehave to be noticed. Theybelong to the genus Inula,and are d
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