140 FLOWERING PLANTS OF THE RIVIERA 



lanceolate spiny outer involucral bracts, the middle ones ending in an obtuse 

 laciniate appendix. Flowers blue. Stems 1-2 ft. high. Achenes scabrous. 

 Borders of fields and ditches, rare. May-July. 



C. lanatus L. = Centrophyllum lanatum DC. Annual. Leaves 

 leathery, pubescent, half-amplexicaul, pinnatifid, with lanceolate very spiny 

 lobes. Flowers yellow. Involucral bracts ending in an acute point, spiny at the 

 margins. Outer bracts large and leafyas in the other species. Achenes smooth. 



Waste places and road-sides. July-September. 



CENTAUREA L. 



C. conifera L. = Leuzea conifera DC. (Plate XIX). Stem 4-12 in., simple, 

 i-headed or rarely branched, tomentose. Leaves greenish above, white tomen- 

 tose and cottony beneath, pinnatipartite, with narrow segments, the lower ones 

 petioled. Involucre very large, pale brown, ovate, bracts hidden by the scarious, 

 rounded, laciniate tips. Pappus white, very long. Flowers purple, inconspicuous. 



Pine-woods and stony slopes. Local. May-July. 



C. Jacea L. Stem 1-2 ft., erect, angular, branching above. Lower leaves 

 petiolate, lanceolate, sinuate-dentate, or pinnatifid ; upper ones oblong-lanceolate, 

 ofteni toothed at base. Flowers purplish, in terminal heads. Involucral bracts 

 concave, scarious, yellow with darker centre, lower ones fringed and torn. 



Damp meadows, common. June-September. 



C. amara L. Sometimes considered a sub-species of C. Jacea L. Stem 

 erect and slender. Lower leaves linear-lanceolate, sinuate toothed or quite entire ; 

 upper ones linear, all greyish-green. Flowers in solitary terminal heads, purplish. 

 Involucral bracts with shining, entire or scarious, ragged, yellowish appendages. 



Dry banks on clay or limestone. June-October. 



C. pectinata L. Upper leaves oval, sinuate, auricled, greyish-green. 

 Involucral bracts with very long reflexed appendix, edged with long cilia. Heads 

 medium, purplish-red. 



Rocky places and hilly slopes, uncommon. June-August. 



C. intybacea Lamk, Stems woody at base, 2-3 ft. high, simple or branched, 

 glabrous like the leaves. Lower leaves deeply pinnatipartite with linear-lanceo- 

 late entire segments ; upper leaves linear entire, or with two stipule-like lobes at 

 base. Involucre shining, globular. Flowers purplish. 



Rocks and dry hill-sides in the Var, as on Mont Coudon and Faron. June- 

 August. 



C. montana L. is represented in the hilly districts by the sub-species 

 C. axillaris Willd. and C. variegata Lam. C. axillaris is very variable ; 

 sometimes the leaves are green and sometimes silvery, lanceolate and entire or 

 toothed and deeply pinnatifid. Involucral bracts often have a dark brown 

 scarious border with the fringe dark at base or a pale border with pale fringe. 



Woods and mountain pastures. May-July. 



C. collina L. A handsome species with rather pale yellow flowers sur- 

 mounting a large solitary globular involucre. Involucral bracts green, with pale 

 brown fringe, and ending in a strong spreading spine usually branched near the 

 base. Lower leaves petioled, generally lyrate and bipinnatipartite ; upper ones 

 sessile, pinnatipartite with almost linear segments. Stems very angular and 

 rigid. Snails are very partial to this plant. 



Road-sides, fields, and waste places on the littoral. June-August. 



C. paniculata L. A very variable species with many different varieties, but 

 according to Bicknell divided into two chief forms : 



(i) " A greyish plant ; stem-leaves with linear divisions rolled at the edges ; 

 involucre pale, oblong or ovoid-oblong rather narrowing towards the base." 

 Common. 



(ii) " A greenish plant; leaves with broader divisions and flat; involucre 

 larger, rounder at the base, the bracts often somewhat coloured." This is a 

 mountain variety. 



