I. Mountain Groundsel (_S. sylvaticus_). Leaves similar to _S. vulgaris_, but divisions more accentuated. When the ray is present it is rolled back. The flower-heads are more numerous than in _vulgaris_. Plant with unpleasant fœtid smell. Dry upland banks and pastures. July to September.
II. Stinking Groundsel (_S. viscosus_). More objectionable-smelling than the last. Leaves broader, more divided, glandular, hairy and viscid. Plant much branched and spreading. Flowers larger: rays rolled back. Waste ground. Local. July and August.
III. Ragwort (_S. jacobæa_). Stem thick and leafy, 2 to 4 feet high, somewhat cottony, with clusters of large golden yellow flower-heads with spreading rays. Leaves finely lobed and toothed. Waysides, woods and pastures. June to October. Very plentiful.
IV. Hoary Ragwort (_S. erucifolius_). Similar to the last, but the stem more loosely cottony; the segments of the leaves more regular and less divided; rootstock creeping. Hedges and roadsides. July and August.
V. Water Ragwort (_S. aquaticus_). Like _S. jacobæa_, but of lesser growth. Flower-heads larger, leaf-stalks longer. Wet places, riversides, ditches. July and August.
The structure of grass-flowers has been already described, and the reader should refer back to page 19. The inflorescence is a spike, the spikelets arranged in two rows, with their edges to the stem, which is channelled. There is only one outer glume, which is strongly ribbed, and shorter than the spikelet. The flowering glumes number from six to ten, or more.
This is one of the grasses that send forth leafy runners, which root and occupy surrounding ground. It is one of the most valuable to the farmer, on account of it early ripening, and its usefulness either for permanent pasture or for cropping. With good management as many as four crops may be obtained in one year. It grows in all waste places, and flowers in May.
The Darnel (_L. temulentum_) is its only native congener; an annual. It is similar to _L. perenne_, but produces no runners. Its presence among wheat is dreaded, as when ground up into flour it is believed to produce headache, vertigo, and other symptoms of poisoning. Darnel is the Tares of the New Testament, and is one of the very few grasses that are deleterious.