198 The Flora of Wiltshure. 
3. C. Scabiosa (Linn.) Great, or Scabious-leaved Knapweed 
Matfellow. Engl. Bot. t. 56. 
Locality. Borders of fields, waste ground, &c., especially on 
chalk throughout the county. P. Fl. July, September. Area, 1. 
2.3.4.5. Stem 2 to 8 feet high, angular branched. Leaves, dark 
. green. Flowers large, purple, solitary at the ends of the branches. 
A variety with white flowers is occasionally met with. | 
Onoporpum, (Linn.) Corron TuHIsTLe. 
Linn. Cl. xix. Ord. i. 
Name. From onos, an ass, and perdo, from its effect on the 
animal. 
O. Acanthium, (Linn.) common Cotton Thistle. This is con- 
sidered by some the emblematical thistle of Scotland; others assign 
the honour of representing our sister kingdom to the Milk-thistle 
(Silybum Marianum), or to the Welted-thistle (Carduus Acanthétdes). 
The motto “Nemo me impune lacessit,” will apply to either of the 
three with equal justice. Acanthium is a diminutive of acantha ; 
which is said by some to be from ake a point, and anthos, a flower. 
Engl. Bot. t. 977. 
Locality. By road-sides and in waste places, particularly in 
chalky or sandy soils. 3B. Fl. August. Area, * * 3, 4. * 
South Division. 
3. South-west District, “‘Corn-fields in the parish of Britford,” 
Mr. James Hussey. 
North Division. 
4, North-west District, ‘Lane between Kington and Corsham,” 
Rev. E. Rowlandson. ‘ Rudlow and Box,” Mr. C. £. Broome. 
Very rare in Wilts, and only as yet observed in the above Dis- 
tricts. When the flowering is over, the innermost scales of the 
involucrum close together and preserve the seed; iu this respect, 
as well as in the honey-combed receptacle, it differs from the com- 
mon Thistles (the Carduus and Cnicus tribes), in which, as soon as 
the seed is ripe, the first hot day opens the heads, expands the 
pappus, and the least wind carries away theseeds; but in this plant 
they remain shut up and strongly defended. 

