THE SOW-THISTLE. 



Sonchus oleracem. Nat. Ore/., Composite. 



E have already figured one plant 

 of this genus, the corn sow- 

 thistle ; the present species is still 

 more abundant, for while the 

 former plant is fairly common 

 throughout Britain in our corn- 

 fields, the present species, the 

 common sow-thistle, is abundant 

 everywhere. Like the corn sow- 

 thistle, it is a weed of cultiva- 

 tion ; but it does not confine itself 

 to one crop, but springs up freely 

 wherever a piece of land is under 

 culture of any kind. The plant 

 is almost universally distributed, 

 north, south, east, and west, over 

 the wide world, except in some few tropical localities. 

 Wherever we go we find this pertinacious weed, springing 

 amidst the crops, availing itself of the tillage of man, 

 and filling his fields with its unwelcome seedlings. The 

 meaning of the name we have already given in our 

 remarks on the corn sow-thistle. We may, however, just 

 remark that it is in France le Laiteron, a name bestowed 

 on it from the milky juice with which its stems are filled. 



