THISTLE SAGE (Salvia carduacea, Benth.). Flowers light 

 blue or lavender, showy, an inch long, the divisions more or 

 less fringed, the large lower lip fan-shaped and edged with 

 white; stamens 2, long exserted; flowers disposed in many- 

 flowered, woolly, globular head at the summit of stout, 

 naked stems 1 to 2 feet high. Leaves gray green, spiny- 

 toothed and thistle-like, with cobwebby wool, all basal. A 

 winter annual, blooming from April to June on dry plains of 

 the interior valleys and in sandy washes, abundant in South- 

 ern California. 



The Thistle Sage is an exquisite example of what Nature can 

 produce from apparently wasts material, for cften we find it 

 springing from the midst of the most arid and unpromising 

 of conditions. The California Indians in their practical way, 

 found a use for its seeds, which though small, are full of nutri- 

 tion, and after being ground, went into the aboriginal mush pot. 



The name Thistle Sage is simply the English of the botanical 

 appellation, and is perfectly descriptive. Miss Armstrong 

 records another common name, Persian Prince, which is more 

 romantic than obvious. 



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