Po pillar Studies of California Wild Flozvers 61 



Thistles 



By Roland Rice 



"Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth 

 to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the fields!' 



GENESIS iii-18. 



It seems to be in the Bible that the first mention of Thistles is 

 to be found, and they are mentioned as a part of the primal curse. 

 But perhaps few other flowers are loved as the Scotch love their 

 Thistle, and few other blooms have so many legends concerning 

 them. The Thistles are, however, interesting not alone for their 

 legends, but for their variety and habits, while some are of unusual 

 beauty. There are many types of these plants and most of them 

 belong to the largest of the plant groups, the Compositae, with 

 names such as Carduus, Centaurea, Cnicus, etc. The name 

 "Thistle," however, is sometimes applied to plants belonging to 

 other genera because of their spiny leaves and stems. We have 

 the "Thistle-sage," "Thistle-poppy," and others. 



There are at least nineteen native Thistles in this State, not 

 counting the globe-trotting varieties which have come here from 

 Europe and Asia. They may be found blooming in a wonderful 

 array of colors. Most of them secrete a very sweet honey nectar 

 and are favorites with bees and butterflies. The California Thistle, 

 Carduus calif ornicus, is a branching plant, from two to six feet 

 tall, and has many dark, bluish-green leaves, and flowers nearly 

 three inches across, creamy-white, or purplish at times, in color. It 

 is common in the Sierras, including the Yosemite. The Western 

 Thistle, Carduus occidentalis, is frequent in the Bay Region and 

 quite well distributed all over the State. It is about three feet tall, 

 with large, spiny leaves. The flower is about two inches long, 

 about as thick, the base tipped with brown spines and the top with 

 tubular, red or wine-colored blooms. Some of the native Thistles 

 are very decorative in appearance and should find a place in our 

 gardens. 



To indicate that there are still interesting plants to be found 

 that have not yet been described, we might cite the instance of a 

 new Thistle recently discovered in the Berkeley Hills, by Miss 

 Walker, of the University of California Herbarium. The colors of 

 Thistles vary according to the conditions of their locality. It is 

 unfortunate that some of these plants have become such a nuisance 

 in our fields. But the trouble makers are mostly aliens, I believe, 

 and should not be considered as our native wildings. 



The so-called Russian Thistle, Salsola tragus, which is related 

 to the Saltwort, and called a thistle because of its spiny leaves and 

 stems, has found its way here and is very troublesome in our fields ; 

 so that we may almost believe the Russian peasant tale which tells 

 us that the devil often sowed thistle seeds among the good seeds 

 of the grain fields, thereby causing much hardship to the farmers. 



