BLUE AND PURPLE WILD FLOWERS 



never saw it that way. Because it threatened his hay 

 fields, laws have been enacted in some states for its 

 speedy extermination. Notwithstanding their con- 

 demnable qualities, they are really one of the hand- 

 somest ornamental plants that have come to our shores. 

 They are especially attractive and conspicuous in our 

 meadows and pastures, because cattle and horses 

 studiously avoid them and graze all around them, 

 and bees and butterflies are always hovering delight- 

 fully about them. Some of the species have been used 

 as a remedy for swelled veins. They were held at one 

 time to be a sure cure for the " blues," and to dream 

 of Thistles was considered an omen of good luck. 

 Silly lassies of olden days, who desired to anticipate 

 their lover's sincerity, did so by placing trimmed 

 Thistles under their pillows at night, and noting cer- 

 tain changes in them the following morning. 



COMMON, BUR OR SPEAR THISTLE 



Cirsium lanceolatum. Thistle Family. 



A large, biennial species, with its round, branching 

 stalk growing from three to five feet high. It is very 

 leafy, and is covered with a fine whitish wool. The 

 long, dark green, lance-shaped leaves have a long, 

 tapering point, and their margins are deeply, irre- 

 gularly and fantastically cut, each projection being 

 tipped with a long, stiff, and exceedingly sharp, needle- 

 like point that terminates its midrib, and which easily 

 pierces the skin upon the slightest provocation. The 

 upper surface is rough and prickly, and the under side 



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