COMPOSITE (composite FAMILY.) 453 



many-flowered ; appendages of involucre .03 to .035 long, .01 broad at 

 base ; inner scales of involucre purple ; flowerets pink — August — 

 Jebel Tullupbaba near Aintab, and north-eastward. 



58. €ARDUUS, L. Plumeless Thistle. 



Heads homogamous, many- and equal-flowered, flowerets perfect. 

 Scales of involucre imbricated, all except the inner spiny at tip. 

 Receptacle fringed. Tube of corolla short, limb 5-cleft. Filaments 

 free, hairy, anthers bicaudate. Akenes obovate-compressed, glossy, 

 more or less striate and transversely wrinkled, hilum at base, tip with 

 an elevated margin and a central boss. Pappus in many rows, hair- 

 like, rough, united in a ring at base, deciduous — Monocarpic, spiny 

 herbs, with purple flowers. 



* Biennials, neads flattened-spherical, .03 in diameter, loith long spines. 



1. C. iiutaii§, L. (D .6 to 1, sparingly cobwebby ; stem with 

 several, incised-dentate, prickly wings. Leaves canescent at lower 

 surface, pinnatipartite into crowded, triangular, prickly- and spiny- 

 dentate lobes. Heads solitary, nodding, long peduncled ; scales of in- 

 volucre ovate at base, ending in a linear-triangular, spiny-tipped, 

 spreading or reflexed appendage, .01 to .015 long, the inner scales 

 scarious, purple at tip — June — Waste places and woods ; Cassius to 

 Akherdagh, and northward. 



* * Annuals. Heads oblong, .01 to .015 long. 



2. C. pycnocephalus, Jacq. .3 to 1 ; stem prickly and 

 prickly-winged. Leaves oblong in outline, pinnatifid into oblong, 

 angular, prickly-toothed lobes. Heads 2-5, crowded, sessile at the tip of 

 a winged peduncle ; middle and inner scales of involucre lanceolate, the 

 inner about as long as jlowerets ; boss of akenes on a short and thick 

 stalk — April to June — Fields and roadsides ; common to subalpine 

 regions. 



Var. Arabicus, Boiss. Wings narrow ; stems naked above. 

 Plants frequently low ; scales short, oblong-lanceolate, with a short 

 prickle, the inner purple at tip — Arabia Petrsea ; subalpine J^ebanon ; 

 Damascus ; Aleppo. 



3. C argeiitatii§, L. .3 to .5 ; stem and branches slender, 

 wings narrow, sinuate-prickly. Leaves tender, pinnatifid-prickly. 

 Heads solitary, on long, white, naked peduncles ; intermediate scales of 

 involucre lanceolate-subulate, inner broad-lanceolate, acute, not as long as 

 Jlowerets ; boss of akenes on a slender stalk — April to June — Common. 



Var. £§clraeloiiicu$, Boiss, A coarser plant ; peduncles winged 

 and crisp-prickly, except toward tip ; inner scales as long as flowerets 

 — Plain of Esdraelon ; el-Hiileh. 



Var. polyeeplialus, Post. Lower branches prickly-winged, 

 ending in 3-4, short-peduncled heads ; upper as in type — Jerusalem. 



59. CIRSIUM, Tourn. Thistle. 



Heads many- and equal-flowered, flowerets perfect, rarely dicecions. 

 Scales of involucre imbricated, all except the inner spiny-tipped. 

 Receptacle fringed. Corolla equal or gaping, limb 5-cleft or parted. 

 Filaments free, papillose, or glabrous, anthers with 3 appendages or 0. 



