408 SYNGENESIA AEQUALIS. CurduUS. 



This is rather a rare plant, growing' on dry, cultivated lands 

 after the crop is cut, during the cold season. 



Root annual, simple, perpendicular. Stem short, flexuose, 

 striated, ranious. Branches two-forked, like the stem ; the 

 whole plant from one to two feet high. Leaves scattered, ses- 

 sile, not decurrent, lance-lyrate, thorny. Floivers terminal, 

 peduncled, of a pale purple. Florets from twenty to thirty. 

 Style shorter than the stamens. Stigtnas two, hid within the 

 anthers, erect, bearded at their base. 



2. C. radicans. Roxb. 



Annual, diffuse, rooting; the branches with rather sharp an- 

 gles. Leaves sessile, cuneate, remotely but deeply serrate, 

 smooth. Floivers terminal, solitary, spines of the calyx long, 

 slender, inoffensive ; receptacle chaffy. 



A native of Mysore, where it grows on dry fields, from 

 thence the seeds were sent by Dr. Buchanan to the Botanic 

 garden, where the plants thrive luxuriantly, blossom during 

 the rains, and ripen their seed in two and three months af- 

 terwards. 



Stem scarcely any, but in this rich moist soil, numerous 

 stout branches spreading all round to a considerable extent, 

 emitting numerous roots from every part, which strike deep 

 into the soil when the branch rests on it ; young shoots angu- 

 lar from a continuation of the nerves of the leaves. Leaves 

 alternate, approximate, sessile, almost stem-clasping, cuneate, 

 glossy, serrate-dentate, having the margins and nerves some- 

 what scabrous, and the apices of the serratures ending in short 

 softspines, with numerous darker coloured minute cells visible 

 on viewing' them between the eye and the light, from one to 

 four inches long. Flowers terminal, solitary, short-pedun- 

 cled, of a middling size and lively lilac colour. 



3. C. lanatus. 



Erect. Leaves petioled, lance-lyre-shaped, thorny- tooth- 

 ed, woolly underneath. Flowers numerous, peduncled. Stig- 

 mas high above the anthers. Pappus hairy. 



