CARDUUS.] COMPOSITE. 191 



spiny. Leaves 6-12 in., variable, undulate, entire or 1-2 pinnatifid. Heads 

 1-2 in. diam. ; peduncle slender, and involucre cottony ; outer bracts 

 fin., green, spinous tip long. Flowers crimson. Fruit pale brown, glabrous, 

 granulate. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Africa, Siberia ; introd. in N. America. 



2. C. cris'pus, L. ; wings continuous, heads small erect fascicled, peduncles 

 leafy, involucre webbed, bracts erect very slender. C. acanthoides, Sm. 

 Hedgebanks and waste places, from Moray and Dumbarton southwards ; 



ascending to near 1,000 ft. in Yorkshire ; rare in Scotland ; S. of Ireland ; 

 fl. June- Aug. Annual or biennial. Stem 1-3 ft. , erect, cottony or pubescent 

 above ; branches ascending ; wings narrow, waved. Leaves variable, cottony 

 below, usually pinnatifid ; lobes broad, lobulate. Heads variable, ^ f 

 in. diam. ; involucre ovoid, bracts subulate, webbed. Flowers purple or 

 white. Fruit pale, shining, furrowed. DISTRIB. Europe (Arctic), Siberia, 

 Dahuria, N.W. Himalaya. A hybrid with nutans occurs at Saffron Walden. 

 VAR. 1, cris'jms proper ; leaves hoary beneath, heads crowded, involucre sub- 

 globose. VAR. 2, polyan'themos, Koch (sp.) ; leaves pubescent on the nerves 

 only, heads crowded, involucre ovoid. VAR. 3, litigio'sus, Gr. and Godr. ; 

 leaves as in VAR. 2, heads subsolitary, involucre as in VAR. 1. 



3. C. pycnoceph'alus, Jacq. ; wings of stem continuous, heads small 

 fascicled, involucre glabrous narrow, bracts broadly subulate-lanceolate 

 with recurved spines. C. tenuiflorus, Curtis. 



Sandy waste places, especially on the coasb, from Forfar southwards ; rare in 

 W. Scotland, common in Ireland. Annual or biennial, erect, 1-4 ft., 

 branched, hoary. Leaves oblong- lanceolate, pinnatifid ; lobes broad, sinuate- 

 toothed. Heads f-1 in. , sessile ; invol. bracts few. Flowers pale purple. 

 Fruit grey, shining, minutely pitted, not furrowed. DISTRIB. Europe, from 

 Denmark southwards ; N. Africa. C. tenuiflorus is hardly distinguished from 

 C. pycnocephalus by its usually more numerous and smaller heads and outer 

 invol. bracts with a narrow scarious border. 

 SUB-GEN. 2. Cirs'ium, Tourn. (gen.). Filaments free. Fruit corn-pressed, 



smooth ; pappus-hairs feathery, very slender, white. CNICUS, L. 

 * Upper surface of leaves scabrid. Flowers 2-sexual. 



4. C. lanceola'tus, L. ; stem winged, leaves pinnatifid, heads fascicled, 

 involucre ovoid cottony, bracts lanceolate spreading. Spear-thistle. 

 Waste places, &c. ; fl. July-Oct. Stout, erect, annual or biennial, 2-5 ft. 



Leaves |-lft., obovate -lanceolate, setose above, cottony below; lobes few, 

 large, 2-fid, toothed, with long stout spines. Heads f-1^ in. diam., few, erect ; 

 peduncle short ; in vol. bracts very many, subulate, midrib strong, spines long. 

 Flowers purple. Fruit striped, smooth, shining. DISTRIB. Europe, N. 

 Africa, Siberia ; introd. in N. America. 



5. C. erioph'oras, L. ; stem not winged, leaves pinnate, head very 

 large woolly, involucre globose, bracts ciliated, spine slender recurved. 

 Waste grounds in dry soil, local, from Lancaster and Durham ?outh wards ; 



absent from Ireland ; fl. July-Sept. Tall, stout, handsome, woolly, biennial, 

 3-5 ft., branched above. Leaves 1-2 ft., cop'ously setose above and cottony 

 beneath ; lobes distant, slender, usually 2-partite, the divisions spreading 

 upwards and downwards, margins ciliate and spinous. Heads 2-3 in. diam. ; 

 invol. bracts very many. Flou-ers pale purple, anthers blue. Fruit shining, 



