Daisies and Thistles 195 
The beauty now les not in the shabby Thistles, but 
in the flock of goldfinches that feed upon the seeds, 
and fly up at our approach, flashing the gold and 
white of their wings in the sunshine. The flower- 
heads of this and allied species are very popular 
with insects on account of the liberal provision of 
nectar in the florets, which is accessible to long- 
and short- tongued alike. Miiller in watching 
the heads of C. arvensis made note of eighty- 
eight distinct species of insects who thus patron- 
ised it. 
Several of the Thistles are (or were formerly) used 
as food, among them the Woolly-headed Thistle 
(C. eriophorus), the young stems and leaves being 
included in salads or cooked; and the Holy Milk- 
thistle (Silybum marianum), of which the stems 
wereeaten. This fact, that these plants are sufficiently 
esculent to have attracted man, gives us the clue to 
the formidable array of spines with which leaves, 
stems, and flower-heads are alike protected. But 
for these the browsing animals would improve the 
Thistles out of existence. As it is, we have intro- 
duced one animal that can set even these spines 
at defiance. The donkey has a mouth and lips 
sufficiently callous to enjoy such fare. 
Respecting the last-mentioned species, the Milk- 
thistle, we may mention a bit of old-time romance | 
connected with it. The leaves are veined with white, 
and the old story to account for this singular appear- 
ance was to the effect that the Virgin Mary let a 
drop of her milk fall upon the plant, and as it 
trickled down the leaf it turned the veins white, as 
they have remained to this day. And unromantic, 
