Ciacus.} COMPOSITE. 155 



erect, simple, woolly. Leaves few upon the stem. Flowers rather 

 large, purple. 



23. Cnicus. Linn. Plume-thistle. 



Involucre tumid, imbricated with spinous scales. Receptacle 

 hairy. Pappus deciduous, feathery. — Name from tevigw, to 

 prick or wound. Syngencsia. JEqualis. 



* Leaves decurrent. 



1. C. lanceolatus, Willd. Spear Plume-thistle. Leaves de- 

 current, hispid, pinnatifid, their segments generally two-lobed, 

 spreading, spinous; involucres ovate, tomentose ; their scales 

 lanceolate, spreading. Br. Fl. 1. p. 351. E. Fl. v. ui.p. 388. 

 — Carduus lanceolatus, Linn. E. Bot. 1. 107. 



Way-sides and pastures, common. Fl. July, Aug. $ . — Three to four 

 feet high. Leaves downy beneath ; their points long and very sharp. 

 Flowers standing singly, large, purple, rarely white. 



2. C. palustris, Willd. Marsh Plume-thistle. Leaves de- 

 current, hispid, pinnatifid, spinous; involucres ovate, clustered, 

 their scales ovato-lanceolat.e, mucronate, appressed. Br. Fl. 1, 

 p. 351. E. Fl. v. iii. p. 388. — Carduus palustris, Linn. E. Bot. 

 t. 974. 



Moist meadows and in ditches by way -sides, frequent. Fl. July. $ . 

 — Four to six feet high, very full of rather short spines, erect. Re- 

 markable for its clustered heads of flowers, whose involucres have the 

 scales broad, appressed, keeled and mucronated. 



* * Leaves sessile or nearly so. 



3. C; arvensis, Hoflfm. Creeping Plume-thistle. Leaves 

 sessile, pinnatifid, spinous ; stem panicled ; involucre ovate, its 

 scales appressed, mucronated. Br. Fl. 1. p. 351. E. Fl. v. iii. 

 p. 389. — Carduus arvensis, Curt. E. Bot. t. 975. — Serratida 

 arvensis, Linn. 



Fields and by way-sides, too abundant. Fl. July. %. — One to three 

 feet high. Root very creeping. Stem angular, but not winged. 



4. C. Forsteri, Sm. Branching Bog Plume-thistle. Leaves 

 slightly decurrent, pinnatifid, spinous, downy beneath ; stem 

 panicled, hollow; involucre ovate, rather cottony ; outer scales 

 spinous. Br. Fl. 1. p. 351. E. Fl. v. iii. p. 390. 



In a meadow in Garvagh demesne, and by the side of the river Bann 

 below Coleraine ; Mr. I). Moore. Fl. July, Aug. !{..—" The fructifi- 

 cation most accords with that of the last two species, while the herbage 

 and habit approach some of the following, or rather the exotic Cnicus 

 rivularis. Willd." Sm. — Perhaps only a hybrid between C. palustris 

 and C.pratensis, as Mr. Borrer remarks. 



5. C. eriophorus, Willd. Woolly-headed Plume- thistle. Leaves 

 sessile, pinnatifid, every other segment pointing upwards, spi- 



