BLUE AND PURPLE WILD FLOWERS 



midrib is strong, and the texture is firm. The great, 

 fluffy flower head is more rounding and spreading than 

 the Common Thistle. The purple colouring is softer 

 and lighter in tone, and the large green cup is thickly 

 covered with short prickers. Several small leaflets 

 are set close to the base of the cup. One, two, or three 

 flowers are set on the end of the stalk and branches, 

 and as the seed ripens, the head becomes a lovely ball 

 of silky fluff. This Thistle is found in dry pastures 

 and fields, from Maine to Pennsylvania, and Delaware, 

 from July to September. 



CANADA THISTLE. CREEPING, CURSED, 

 WAY, CORN, OR HARD THISTLE 



Cirsium arvense. Thistle Family. 



The Canada Thistle has been severely condemned 

 by farmers in this country because of its rapid spread 

 and the extreme difficulty with which its creeping roots 

 are eradicated from the soil. It grows in extensive 

 colonies, and quickly monopolizes our fertile meadows 

 and pasture lands. The slender, leafy stalk is grooved 

 and branching at the top, and grows from one to three 

 feet high, from a perennial creeping rootstalk. The 

 long, lance-shaped leaf is deeply cut into very prickly 

 lobed or coarsely toothed segments, which bristle with 

 many prickers, as they become curled or ruffled. 

 The colour is grayish green, and the midrib is whitish. 

 They slightly clasp the stalk, and the lower ones are 

 stemmed. The numerous small, purple or whitish 

 flower heads are loosely clustered on the tips of the 



