COMPOUND FLOAVERS 157 



less abundance in almost all the countries of Europe, and, in sandy situations, 

 in many parts of the world. Linnaeus, regarding it as an indication of a 

 barren soil, calls it " a mournful spectacle." It has black, woody, tapering roots, 

 which are said to be eaten when young, but which are certainly, when oldei-, 

 acrid and disagreeable. The receptacle of the flower is, however, a very good 

 vegetable, and is often eaten; while another species of Carline Thistle 

 (C. acanthi folia), which grows in abundance on the mountains of Dauphiny, 

 is commonly used there as a substitute for the artichoke. The habit of 

 closing its flowers before rain renders the Carline Thistle a favourite village 

 hygrometer ; and both this and another species are hung against the cottage- 

 doors of France, Germany, and Spain, to give reports of coming changes. 

 The French call it Carline ; the Germans, Eherwurz ; the Dutch, Everwortel ; 

 the Italians and Spaniards, Carlina ; and the Eussians, Kolintschka. 



The bark of our Carline Thistle abounds in a resinous, gummy matter, 

 and the Carlina gummifdra has a similar substance in great abundance, both 

 root and flower yielding a gum which hardens into small pieces like gum- 

 mastick. The root of this kind is said to be poisonous. From time im- 

 memorial both this and our native species have been used medicinally, and 

 their fleshy receptacles not only eaten as a vegetable, but often preserved as 

 a sweetmeat with honey or sugar. Olivier de Serres says that the Carline 

 Thistle received its name from Charlemagne, whose army was cured of the 

 plague by its use ; a story which, improbable as it is, is less so than the intro- 

 ductory circumstance that an angel directed this monarch to the plant. 

 Linnaeus ascribes the origin of its name to the circumstance that the army of 

 Charles V., when in Barbary, was cured by it of that dread disease. The 

 plant possesses some tonic and stimulating properties. 



23. Knapweed, Bluebottle, and Star Thistle (Centaurea). 



1. Brwon-rayed Knapweed(C.jdcea). — Leaves egg-shaped and lanceo- 

 late, stalked, toothed ; involucre pale brown, outer scales few, with appen- 

 dages deeply jagged in a pinnatifid manner, innermost entire, the rest jagged 

 irregularly ; root perennial. This is a very rare species, and is perhaps not 

 truly wild, one specimen only having been found in Sussex, and another in 

 Lanarkshire. It bears purple flowers in Aiigust and September, the heads- 

 being rayed, and the seeds having no pappus. The plant has, on the Con- 

 tinent, been much used as a febrifuge, and appears to possess some good 

 medicinal properties ; several of the species contain, like the Great Yellow 

 Knapweed of Italy (C. centaurium), a most powerful bitter principle. This 

 plant is by some botanists thought equal to gentian, and the long-celebrated 

 Blessed Thistle (C. henedida) was formerly considered a most valuable herb. 

 It was cultivated by the monks, and is still to be seen in many an English 

 garden. It was thought to cure fevers, the plague, and other pestilential 

 maladies. It is little esteemed now, but Professor Burnett remarks of it : 

 " Although now neglected, its properties are such as to lead to the belief that 

 it has been superseded by other not more efficacious remedies, its chief fault 

 being the ease with which it may be obtained ; for with too many persons 

 the difficulty of procuring, the distance it must be fetched, or the exorbitant 



