ones, which extend to three feet and more ; these are deeply 
pinnatifid, or even pinnated, with thé pinne decurrent, the 
segments pinnatifid, the divisions piblongeslanscelite, more 
or less acute, the sinus, and they alone, frequently furnished 
with a soft, blunt spinule. The midrib is remarkably large 
and thick, grooved on the upper side, the underside semi- 
cylindrical, marked with prominent lines, the inner part 
thick and fleshy, and abounding in bundles of longitudinal 
vessels, veins numerous, anastomosing ; the upper leaves 
become gradually smaller, narrower, and less pinnatifid, 
till, just beneath the flower, they pass into linear bracteas : 
the upper is dark green, obscurely tomentose, the under- 
side white with tomentum. Heads of Flowers large, nume- 
rous. Involucre broadly, almost rotundato-ovate, imbri- 
cated loosely with ovato-oblong, subattenuated, rigid scales, 
urple at the extremity, the base green and fleshy, more or 
ess spotted with purple, and waved : the upper and inner 
scales are smaller, scariose, brown: the outermost and 
lower ones patent, or even reflexed. Receptacle thick, 
fleshy, and nearly plane, abounding in chaffy, filiform, white 
hairs, among which are inserted the numerous florets which 
are placed erect, all tubular, the tube long, white, swelling 
upwards, and there purple, just before it breaks into the 
five linear, blue segments. Anthers dark purple, through 
which passes, much exceeding them in length, the linear, 
blue style, or perhaps it should be considered the stigma, 
for though it is bifid merely at the extremity, a line is 
visible, passing through it. Germen small. Pappus rather 
shorter than the tube of the flower, feathery. | 
~ It has now, I believe, been generally acknowledged, 
that the Artichoke (Cynara Scolymus. L.) is but a variety 
of the Cardoon, depending on cultivation; and differing 
from this latter in its broader, spineless foliage, humbler 
growth, shorter and less branched stems, and larger and 
more fleshy heads: thus the heads of the Artichokes, and 
the stems of the Cardoons, or the midribs of their leaves, 
are employed for culinary purposes. 7 
The plant here figured has, like the Artichoke, spineless 
leaves, but it has the other characters of the Cardoon 
family, and is one with the beauty of which I was much 
struck in the Garden of the Horticultural Society of Edin- 
burgh, in the autumn of last year, 1827 ; and indeed I can 
scarcely conceive a more highly ornamental plant for any 
shrubbery or extensive garden. It was received at Edin- 
burgh from the Horticultural Society of London, and is 
probably 
