178 SYNGENESIA P. JEQUALIS. 



240. CARDUUS. 



* Leaves decurrent. 



1. C. nutans, 2 or 3 feet high, cottony; leaves interruptedly 

 decurrent, spinous; flowers solitary, drooping, large, crimson, 

 musky ; calyx-scales lanceolate, their upper part spreading. 

 Musk Thistle. 



Hob. Waste grounds. " Shore near the Four-gun Bat- 

 tery & " Thomp. July, Aug. Q 



2. C. acanthoides, 3 feet high, green ; leaves decurrent, sinua- 

 ted, very spinous ; flowers aggregate, somewhat stalked, purple ; 

 calyx globose, scales linear, partly recurved. Welted Thistle. 



Hob. Hedges and dry waste ground, not uncommon. 

 July. 



3. C. tenuiflorus, 3 or 4 feet high, cottony ; leaves decurrent, 

 sinuated, spinous ; flowers aggregate, sessile, pale purple ; calyx 

 nearly cylindrical, scales ovate at the base, somewhat recurved 

 at the point. Slender -flowered Thistle. 



Hab. Waste places and road-sides, common in this neigh- 

 bourhood. June, July. 



4. C. marianus, leaves wavy, spinous, clasping the stem, radi- 

 cal ones pinnatifid, all painted with broad white veins ; calyx- 

 scales leafy, recurved, channelled, spinous at the margin ; flowers 

 solitary, large, purple. Milk Thistle. 



Hob. Waste grounds, frequent. Bankhill, and other parts 

 of the Ramparts. Castle banks. Holy Island, opposite 

 St Cuthbert's, Thomp. July. 



" Proud Thistle! emblem dear to Scotland's sons! 

 Begirt with threatening points, strong in defence, 

 Unwilling to assault ! By thee the arm 

 Of England was repelled ; the rash attempt 

 Oft did the wounded arm of England rue. 

 But fraud prevailed, where force had tried in vain : 

 Fraud undermined thy root, and laid thy head, 

 Thy crested head low sullied in the dust." 



GRAHAME. 



