Cirsium COMPOSITAE Carthamus 



Heads 2-3 cm. across. 



Lvs. mostly linear, white-tomentose beneath 2 . C. chine nse 



Lvs. oblong, spiny-serrulate or notched, not tomentose 3. C. segetitm 



1. Cirsium japonicum DC. /JNflj (Hsiao Chi; Small Thistle) (Mak.F.20). Stout herb, 

 to lm.; fls. pink, purple, V-IX. Eastern Asia; locally in An., Ki., Ku. Waste 



land. 



2. Cirsium chinense Gard. & Champ. ^ (Ku Yao) (Be. F. 168). Erect herb, to 2 m.; 

 fls. purple, VIII-IX. Southeastern Asia; locally in An., Ki., Ku. Grassland. 



3. Cirsium segetum Bunge (Cephalonoplos segetum (Bge.) Kitam.) (Kit.C.l:1137). 

 Erect perennial herb, to 7 dm.; fls. pink, purple, IV-VI. Eastern Asia; locally 

 in An., Ki., Ku. Roadsides, waste land. Fig. 390. 



43. Serratula Linn. HfaJ^M (T'ien Ts'un Ts'ao Shu; 

 Village-field-plant Genus) 

 Perennial herbs with alternate toothed or pinnatifid Irs. and discoid heads of 

 purple, violet or white fls.; bracts of the ovoid or globose involucre in several rows, 

 entire, not spiny; receptacle bristly: fr. glabrous, oblique at the base; pappus bristles 

 merely serrulate, in several rows, rigid, graduated, the outer often very short. 30 

 species, in Eurasia and northern Africa; 7 in China. (Serratula, an old Latin plant- 

 name, from serra, a saw.) 



1. Serratula centauroides Linn, fcft (Ma Hua) (DC. P. 6:668). Erect herbs, to 8 dm.; 

 fls. purple, VI. Northeastern Asia; locally in An., Ku. Grassland. 



44. Centaurea Linn. Star Thistle 'j^^U (Shih Ch'e Chii Shu) 

 Herbs, rarely shrubby, with alternate entire, lobed or pinnately divided lvs.: 

 heads ovoid or globose, variable in size and color; bracts of the involucre overlapping, 

 in many rows, with enlarged appendages or fimbriate margins: marginal fis. often 

 enlarged and ray-like; none of the corollas ligulate: fr. smooth and shining; pappus 

 of bristles or scales, rarely none. 500 species, mostly of Eurasia and northern Africa; 

 2 in China. (Centaurie, an ancient Greek plant-name.) 



1. Centaurea cyanus Linn. Bachelor's Button Ji^-3 (Shih Ch'e Chii; Arrow chariot 

 Chrysanthemum) (B.M. 1027). Slender annual, to 7 dm.; fls. blue, purple, pink, 

 white, V-VI. Introduced from southeastern Europe; locally in Ku. Cultivated, 

 ornamental. 



45. Carthamus Linn. fiTftM (Hung Hua Shu) 

 Thistle-like annuals with alternate rigid spiny lvs.: flg. heads discoid, terminal, 

 solitary or in corymbs; involucres with leaf -like outer bracts; receptacle flat, chaffy- 

 setose: corolla 5-fid, nearly regular; filaments hairy in the middle; anthers sagittate ; 

 tails short-fimbriate: achenes glabrous, obovoid; pappus none. About 20 species, 

 Canary Islands to Central Asia; one cultivated in China. (The Arabic name, referring 

 to a color yielded by the flowers.) 



1. Carthamus tinctorius Linn. Safplower Wfc (Hung Hua; Red Flower) (B.M. 1028). 

 Erect herb, 3-10 dm. high; fls. orange-yellow. Eurasia; locally in Ku. Cultivated, 

 ornamental. 



413 



