326 WILD FLOWERS. 



from the sombre hue of its leaves and blossoms ; 

 but as it is not armed with the spines which dis- 

 tinguish the rest of the family, it would appear to have 

 no claim so far as prickly defence is concerned to 

 the thistle motto, " Ce que Dieu garde, est bien 

 garde* ;" so that the decision of its adherents would 

 place the Scotch in the unenviable, and inapplicable 

 position of the poet Sou they, where, in one of his 

 comico-pathetic moments, he exclaims : " The thistle 

 might be my emblem, though I shall never assume 

 its motto, because asses mumble me with impunity, 

 and to their own contentment/' 



And thus, leaving my readers to settle the ques- 

 tion in dispute 



"As each shall list," 



I proceed to inquire into the various uses to which 

 the thistle has been applied, classing together for 

 the purpose the several and distinct families of 

 Carduus, Cnwus, Onopordum, and Carllna, which 

 are commonly known by the general English name 

 of thistles. 



The milk- thistle is the Carduus maridnus. It is 

 said to have derived its English, as well as its botani- 

 cal, name from the Virgin Mary. Evelyn notices it 

 as an esculent vegetable ; and the same may be said 

 of the footstalks of nearly all the species, or even 

 the genera, which might with advantage be blanched, 

 or, as Loudon suggests, treated like cardoons ; al- 

 though the very exhausting nature of a crop of 

 plants, rejoicing in such vigorous and deep-searching 

 roots, would forbid their extensive cultivation. In 

 ancient Rome and Carthage, as well as in Corduba, 



