226 COMPOSITE. [Cnicus. 



Waste dry places, local, from Durham to Somerset and Kent ; fl. July-Sept. — 

 Tall, stout, handsome, woolly, biennial, 3-5 ft., branched above. Leaves 

 1-2 ft., copiously setose above and cottony beneath ; lobes distant, slender, 

 usually 2-partite, the divisions spreading up and down, margins ciliate and 

 spinous. Heads 2-3 in. diam.; invol. bracts very many. Flowers pale 

 purple ; anthers bine. Fruit shining, smooth, mottled. — Distrib. From 

 Holland southd.— Young parts eatable as salad, and cooked. 



** Upper surface of leaves hairy or pubescent, 

 f Stem branched, very leafy or 0. Leaves harsh, rigidly spinous. 



3. C. acau'lis, Hoffm. ; stem usually very short, leaves pinnatifid, 

 segments 3-4-lobed, heads sessile or on naked peduncles, involucre ovoid 

 glabrous, bracts appressed ciliate mucronate. 



Gravelly and chalky pastures from York to Devon and Kent ; Channel 

 Islands; fl. July-Sept. — Perennial, glabrous or pilose, stemless with one 

 subsessile head, or with a leafy branched stern 8-18 in., and several peduncled 

 heads (C. du'bius, Willd., possibly a hybrid with arven'sis). Leaves sessile or 

 petioled, oblong-lanceolate, rigid, very spinous. Heads 1-2 in. ; involucre 

 ovoid in flower, campanulate in fruit ; bracts ovate-lanceolate, mucronate, 

 inner very long linear. Flowers crimson. Fruit smooth, glabrous, brown ; 

 pappus dirty white.— Distrib. From Gothland southd., N. and W. Asia. 

 • — A troublesome weed in pastures. 



4. C. arven'sis, Hoffm. ; erect, subdicecious, rootstock creeping, leaves 

 pinnatifid, heads many, male involucre subglobose, female ovoid, outer 

 bracts with short spreading spines, inner acuminate. 



Fields and waste places, 1ST. to Shetland; ascends to 2,000 ft. in Northumbd. ; 

 Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. July-Sept. — Perennial, very spinous, 2-4 ft. ; 

 male and female plants in separate large patches. Stem angled and 

 grooved, more or less cottony, rarely glabrous. Leaves oblong-lauceolate, 

 lower petioled, upper slightly decurrent, sinuate lobed or pinnatifid, setose 

 or spinous. Heads |-1 in. diam., corymbose ; peduncle short ; involucre 

 ^-f in., bracts appressed, ciliate, tips rigid spinous ; inner obtuse, tips 

 toothed. Flowers dingy purple. Fruit smooth, shining ; pappus dirty white. 

 —Distrib. Europe, N. and "W. Asia, India, N. Africa ; introd. in N. America. 

 — The commonest pest of agriculture. A hybrid occurs between this and 

 C. acaulis. 



C. arven'sis proper; stem flexuous, leaves pinnatifid very spinous, upper 

 5-amplexicaul. Var. horridus, Koch. 



Sub-sp. C. SETo'sus, Bess. ; stem less branched strict, leaves sessile oblong- 

 lanceolate obtuse sinuate-lobed or subpinnatifid, margins setose. — Orkney, 

 Fife, &c, casual in Ireland ; very rare, always introduced? 



5. C. palus'tris, Hoffm. ; stem winged, leaves decurrent pinnatifid, lobes 

 2-3-fid, segments acuminate spinescent, heads in leafy clusters, involucre 

 cottony, bracts appressed, outer mucronate, inner acuminate. 

 Wet meadows, ditches, &c, N". to Shetland ; ascends to 2,400 ft. in the High- 

 lands; Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. July-Sept. — Biennial, soft, stout, erect, 

 2-4 ft. branched, very spinous. Leaves very decurrent, hairy on both 

 surfaces; lobes narrow. Heads \ in. diam.; involucre \ in., ovoid, bracts 



