134 COMPOSITE 



began using it as food, they found its bitterness very unpleasant. It is only 

 while young that the plant can be eaten, for as soon as the flowers expand, 

 the stalk becomes hard and woody. It is about three feet high, and the 

 flowers, which appear in July and August, are rich purplish-blue. Some 

 writers term it Sonrhus alpinus, or S. ca'.ruleus ; others Laduca alpina. 



9. Sow-thistle (Sonrhus). 



1. Tall Marsh Sow-thistle (S. pah'istris). — Leaves narrow, lanceolate, 

 clasping the stem with arrow-shaped ears, lower ones pinnatifid with fcAv 

 segments, upper ones entire ; stem without branches ; root perennial. This 

 large Sow-thistle is very rare. It has been found in marshes in Cambridge, 

 Essex, Huntingdonshire, Kent, Norfolk and Suflblk, but it is now almost 

 extinct in this country. It bears, in August and Septembei-, pale yellow 

 heads, and as its stem is often six feet high, the plant is very conspicuous on 

 the flat green lands where it grows. The involucre of the flower is covered 

 Avith glandular hairs which serve to entrap small creeping insects that seek 

 to rob the flowers of their honey and pollen, without rendering service in 

 return. 



2. Corn Sow-thistle, Milk-thistle {S. arvinsis). — Leaves oblong, more 

 or less pinnatifid or entire, toothed, often prickly, the upper ones clasping 

 the stem ; heads somewhat corymbose, usually covered, as are the flowering 

 stems, with glandular bristles ; involucres smooth ; root creeping. Those who 

 stray into the harvest fields of August can hardly have failed to observe 

 among the brown corn the large yellow, star-like blossoms of this handsome 

 plant. Each flower is as large as a half-crown piece, and grows on a slender 

 stem which overtops the wheat, and is sometimes even four feet high, adding 

 much to the beauty of the field. 



' ' Stars they are wherein wc read our history, 

 As astrologers and seers of eld ; 

 Yet not wrapp'd about with awful mystery, 

 Like the burning stars which they beheld. 



" Wondrous truths, and manifold as wondrous, 

 God hath written in the stars above ; 

 But not less in the bright flow'rets under us 

 Stands the revelation of His love. 



" Bright and glorious is that revelation 

 Written over this great world of ours ! 

 Making evident our own creation, 



In these stars of earth, these golden flowers." 



This flower Avell deserves its name of arvc'nsis, as it grows much on culti- 

 vated lands, but it is also found on field borders and other waste places, where 

 it sometimes attains a great size. 



3. Common Annual Sow-thistle (aS'. ohrdrciis). — Leaves undivided or 

 pinnatifid, toothed, clasping, with two spreading arrow-shaped ears, lower 

 ones stalked ; stem branched ; fruit ribbed lengthwise and wrinkled ; heads of 

 flowers somewhat umbellate ; involucres smooth ; root annual. This plant is 

 well known to the cultivator of a garden, for it is a frequent intruder on his 

 beds. It has bright glossy, often prickly leaves, their edges in one variety 

 divided, in the other entire, and all, as well as the stem, so full of milky 



