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GROUNDSEL (Ger. Kreuzkraut; Fr. senecon)

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 626 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GROUNDSEL (Ger. Kreuzkraut; Fr. senecon) , Senecio vulgaris, an See also:annual, glabrous, or more or less woolly plant of the natural See also:order See also:Compositae, having a branched succulent See also:stem 6 to 15 in. in height, pinnatifid irregularly and coarsely-toothed leaves, and small cylindrical heads of yellow tubular florets enveloped in an involucre of numerous narrow bracts; the ribbed See also:fruit bears a soft, feathery, hoary tuft of hairs (pappus). The plant is indigenous to See also:Europe, whence it has been introduced into all temperate climates. It is a troublesome See also:weed, flowering throughout the See also:year, and propagating itself rapidly by means of its See also:light feathery fruits; it has its use, however, as a See also:food for cage-birds. Senecio Jacobaea, ragwort, is a showy plant with heads of See also:bright yellow See also:flowers, See also:common in pastures and by roadsides. The genus Senecio is a very large one, widely distributed in temperate and See also:cold climates. The See also:British See also:species are all herbs, but the genus also includes shrubs and even arborescent forms, which are characteristic features of the vegetation of the higher levels on the mountains of tropical See also:Africa. Many species of the genus are handsome florists' See also:plants. The groundsel See also:tree, Baccharis halimifolia, a native of the See also:North See also:American See also:sea-See also:coast from See also:Massachusetts southward, is a Composite See also:shrub, attaining 6 to 12 ft. in height, and having angular branches, obovate or oblong-cuneate, somewhat scurfy leaves, and flowers larger than but similar to those of common groundsel. The See also:long See also:white pappus of the See also:female plant renders it a conspicuous See also:object in autumn. The groundsel tree has been cultivated in British gardens since 1683. The Old See also:English word, represented by " groundsel," appears in two forms, grundeswylige and gundceswelgice; of the first See also:form the accepted derivation is from grund, ground, and swelgau, to See also:swallow; a weed of such rapid growth would not inaptly be styled a " ground-swallower." If the form without the r be genuine, the word might mean " pus-absorber " (O.E. gund, filth, See also:matter), with reference to its use in poultices for abscesses and the like.

GROUND-See also:

SQUIRREL, one of the names for a See also:group of (chiefly) North American striped terrestrial squirrel-like rodents, m6re generally known as chipmunks. They are closely allied to squirrels, from which they are distinguished by the See also:possession of cheek-pouches for the storage of food. The sides, or the sides and back, are marked with light stripes bordered by dark bands; the ears are small, and without tufts; and the tail is relatively See also:short. With the exception of one Siberian species (Tamias asialicus), ground-squirrels are confined to North See also:America,where they are represented by a large number of species and races, all referable to the genus Tamias. In North America ground-squirrels are migratory, and may be abundant in a See also:district one year, and absent the next. They feed on nuts, beechmast, See also:corn and roots, and also on grubs. With the assistance of their cheek-pouches they accumulate large supplies of food for the See also:winter, during which See also:season they See also:lie dormant in holes. Although generally keeping to the ground, when hunted they take to trees, which they climb in See also:search of food. One of the longest known American species is T. striates.

End of Article: GROUNDSEL (Ger. Kreuzkraut; Fr. senecon)

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