CENTAUREA.] COMPOSITE. 189 



SECTION 2. Cya'nus. Invol. brads with the upper part and margins 

 scarious and pectinate or ciliate. 



2. C. Scabio'sa, L. ; erect, leaves deeply pinnatifid segments entire or 

 lobed, peduncles glabrous, involucre globose, bracts with brown pectinate 

 tip and margins, pappus as long as the fruit. 



Dry pastures and waste places, from Moray southwards, and in Ireland ; fl. 

 July-Sept. Rootstock woody. Stem 2-3 ft., grooved, sparingly branched, 

 pilose with soft hairs. Leaves 4-10 in. , almost pinnate, segments obovate. 

 Heads 1^-2 in. diam., rayed ; invol. bracts with a broad brown tip which 

 is de.-urrent on the sides of the bracts ; flowers bright purple, fruit grey, 

 pubescent. DISTRIB. Europe, Siberia. 



3. C. Cya'nus, L. ; erect, leaves narrow entire or lobes few spreading, 

 peduncles cottony, involucre ovoid, margins of bracts deeply toothed 

 scarious, pappus shorter than the fruit. Bluebottle, Cornflower. 

 Cultivated fields, from Moray and Renfrew southwards ; ascending to 1,000ft. 



in the Highlands ; a colonist, Watson.; fl. June-Sept. Annual or biennial. 

 Stem 1-2 ft., slender, grooved, sparingly branched. Leaves 2-4 in., variable, 

 sessile, acute, lower ^-lin., upper y^-in. broad. Heads |-lin. diam., cob- 

 webby ; teeth of bracts triangular, spreading, of outer white, of inner brown 

 and white ; bristles of receptacle silvery. Flowers of ray few, large, bright 

 blue ; of disk smaller, purplish. Fruit grey, silky ; pappus dirty white. 

 DISTRIB. Europe, W. Siberia, N.W. India ; introd. in N. America. 



SECTION 3. Serid'ia. Invol. bracts tipped by spreading reflexed spines. 



4. C. asp'era, L. ; ascending, leaves linear-oblong entire toothed or 

 lyrate, peduncles leafy, involucre globose, bracts tipped with 5 palmately 

 spreading reflexed spines, pappus snorter than the fruit. C. Isnardi, L. 

 Vazon Bay, Guernsey, very rare; fl. July-Sept. Perennial. Stem 1-2 ft., 



slender ; branches spreading, sparsely pubescent, tips cottony. Leaves very 

 variable, lower sessile or petioled, lanceolate or oblong. Heads 1 in. diam. ; 

 bracts coriaceous, yellow-brown, spines ^-^ in. ; bristles of receptacle white. 

 Fruit grey, pubescent ; pappus white. --DiSTRiB. France and S. Europe. 



SECTION 4. Calcit'rapa. Invol. bracts ending in a long strong spine. 



5. C. Calcit'rapa, L. ; rigid, diffusely branched from beneath the 

 heads, leaves pinnatifid, lobes recurved aristate, spines of bracts long 

 spreading, with a few smaller on each side the base, pappus 0. Star- 

 Thistle. 



Dry waste places, rare, from Norfolk and S. Wales to Cornwall and Somerset ; a 

 native? Watson; fl. July-Sept. Biennial, 1-2 ft., cottony or glabrous; 

 branches leafy, spreading, stout. Leaves 1-3 in., often interruptedly pin- 

 natifid, lobes distant, slender. Heads lateral and sessile, or terminating leafy 

 branches, \ in. diam., spines as long, yellow and channelled above. Flowers 

 rose-purple. Fruit white or mottled brown. DISTRIB. Europe from 

 Holland southward, N. Africa, N.W. India ; introd. in N. America. 

 C. SOLSTITIA'LIS, L. ; erect, branched, cottony, stems winged, lower 

 leaves lyrate, upper linear entire decurrent, spines of upper bracts long 

 spreading with a few smaller ones at the base, pappus soft. 

 . Fields in E. and S. of England, rare ; introd. with lucern, &c. ; fl. July-Sept. 

 Annual, much branched, 1-2 ft. Stem rigid, branches twiggy, terminated 



