COMPOSITE. (composite FAMILY.) 297 



C. NtJTANS, L. (Musk Thistle.) Bienuial; leaves decurrent, sinuate, 

 spiny; heads solitary, drooping; flowers purple. — Fields near Harrisburg, 

 Pa., Prof. Porter. (Adv. from Eu.) 



81. ONOPdRDON, Vaill. Cottox or Scotch Thistle. 



Receptacle deeply honeycombed, not setose. Pappus not plumose. Other- 

 wise as Cnicus. — Coarse, branching annuals, or biennials, with the stems 

 winged by the decurrent base of the lobed and toothed somewhat prickly leaves. 

 Heads large ; flowers purple. (The ancient Greek name of the plant.) 



O. AcANTHiuM, L. Stem (2-4° high) and leaves cotton-woollj ; scales 

 linear-awl-shaped. — Roadsides and waste jdaces in the Atlantic States ; rather 

 rare. July -Sept. (Adv. from Eu.) 



82. CENT A UREA, L. Star-Thistle. 



Heads many-flowered ; flowers all tubular, the marginal often much largei- 

 (as it were radiate) and sterile. Receptacle bristly. Involucre ovoid or glo- 

 bose, imbricated, the scales margined or appendaged. Achenes obovoid or 

 oblong, attached obliquely at or near the base ; pappus setose or partly chaffy 

 or none. — Herbs with alternate leaves and single heads. (Named from the 

 Centaur, Chiron, famous for his skill in healing.) 



* Achenes terete, lO-dentate ; pappus oj" 10 long bristles and 10 shoi't inner ones. 



C. BEXEDfcTA, L. Low branching annual, with clasping scarcely pinnat- 

 ifid cut leaves, and large sessile leafy-bracted heads ; flowe-rs yellow. (Cnicus 

 benedictus, L.) — Roadsides and waste grounds, S. Atlantic States; rare. 

 (Adv. from Eu.) 



* * Achenes compressed or 4-angled ; pappus very short or none. 



C. CvANUs, L. (Bluebottle.) Scales of the globular involucre fringe- 

 margined ; false rai/s large ; pappus very short ; leaves linear, entire, or toothed 

 at the base; root annual. — Roadsides, escaped from gardens. July. — Flow- 

 ers ])lue, varying to purplish or white. (Adv. from Eu.) 



C. NIGRA, L. (Knapweed.) Scales of the globular involucre appendaged, 

 and with a black pectinately ciliate fringe ; raijs u-anting ; pappus very short; 

 leaves lanceolate, entire, or the lower lyrate-toothed, rough; root perennial. — 

 Waste places, E. Xew Eng. Aug. — Flowers purple. (Adv. from Eu.) 



C. CALcfTRAPA, L. (Star-Thistle.) Stem diffusely much branched; 

 leaves pinnatelg lobed or spinulose-toothed ; heads sessile, the middle scales oj 

 the ovoid involucre spiny ; papj)us none ; flowers purple ; root annual. — Sea- 

 ports, N. Y., and southward. (Adv. from Eu.) 



C. JAcEA, L. Like the last; heads rather larger, the brownish scale- 

 appendages lacerate ; rays conspicuous, palmate. — Charlotte, Vt. {Pringle)', 

 near N. Y., etc., on ballast. (Nat. from Eu.) 



83. LA MP SAN A, Tourn. Nipple-wort. 



Heads 8-12-flowered. Scales of the cylindrical involucre 8, erect, in one 

 row. Receptacle naked. Achenes oblong; pappus none. — Slender branch- 

 ing annuals, with angled or toothed leaves, and loosely panicled small heads; 

 flowers yellow. (The \a/j.\p(xi/r} of Dioscorides was evidently a wild Mustard.) 



L. coMMtiNis, L. Nearly smooth, 1-2° high ; lower leaves ovate, some- 

 times lyre-shaped. — Roadsides, N. Eng. to N. Y. and Penn. (Nat. from Eu.) 



84. KRIGIA, Schreber. Dwarf Dandelion. 



Heads several - many-flowered. Involucral scales several, in about 2 rows, 

 thin. Achenes short and truncate, top-shaped or columnar, terete or angled; 



