IN THE CORN FIELD 



291 



surmounted by the eight or ten bristles of the calyx. This plant 

 flowers from June to August. 



Two of the Sow Thistles (order Composita') have already been 

 noticed among the flowers of waste ])laces (p. 179), and a third, 

 known as the Corn Sow-Thistle {Sonchus arvensis), falls within the 

 range of the present chapter, 

 being a very common corn-field 

 weed. It is an erect plant, from 

 one to four feet high, with a 

 hollow, angular stem, branched 

 only towards the top. Its 

 lower leaves are large, stalked, 

 more or less divided into 

 triangular, sharply-toothed lobes 

 that are ciuved downwards ; 

 and the upper ones are sessile, 

 less divided, with broad lobes 

 which clasp the stem. The 

 flower-heads are bright yellow, 

 large, and arranged in a loose, 

 terminal corymb. Their stalks 

 and bracts are rough with stiff 

 brown or black hairs ; and the 

 pappus of the wrinkled fruits 

 consists of a dense mass of 

 white, silky hairs. The plant 

 blooms during August and 

 September. 



The Bluebottle or Corn- 

 flower [Centaurea Cyanus) is a 

 pretty cornfield Composite, not 

 uncommon in many parts, 

 blooming from June to August. 

 The plant, represented on 



Plate IV, is covered with loose, cottony hairs, and grows from 

 one to two feet high. The heads of flowers are about an inch 

 in diameter, solitary on long, terminal stalks, surrounded by an 

 oval involucre of closely-overlapping bracts with sharp points 

 and toothed, membranous margins. The receptacle is flat, with 

 silvery bristles between the florets. All the florets are tubular ; 

 the central ones of a bluish-purple colour, with purple anthers ; 



u 2 



The Venus's looking-glass or Corn 

 Belltlower. 



