CENTATJREA.] COMPOSITE. 223 



inner brown and white ; bristles of receptacle silvery Flowers of ray few, 

 large, bright blue ; of disk smaller, purplish. Fruit grey, silky ; pappus 

 dirty white. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Africa, "W. Siberia, N.W. India; introd. 

 in N. America. 



4. C. paniculata, L. ; erect, paniculately branched, woolly, leaves 

 bipinnatifid, lobes linear, upper narrow, entire, involucre ovoid, bracts 

 spiny- toothed or ciliate apiculate, pappus of very short scale-like 

 bristles. 



Jersey ; fl. July. Biennial, dwarf or tall. Stem and branches slender, acutely 

 angled. Leaves 1-3 in., lobes acute. Heads -1 in. long ; involucre ovoid. ; teeth 

 of deeply striate bracts often flexuous. Flowers purple. Fruit white, silvery, 

 glabrous. DISTRIB. S. Europe. 



SECTION 3. Serid'ia. Invol. bracts tipped by spreading reflexed spines. 



5. C. asp'era, L. ; ascending, leaves linear-oblong entire toothed or 

 lyrate, peduncles leafy, involucre globose, bracts tipped with 5 palmately 

 spreading reflexed spines, pappus shorter than the fruit. C. Isnardi, L. 



Vazon Bay, Guernsey, very rare ; fl. July-Sept. Perennial. Stem 1-2 ft., 

 slender ; branches spreading, sparsely pubescent, tips cottony. Leaves very 

 variable, lower sessile or petioled, lanceolate or oblong. Heads 1 in. diam. ; 

 bracts coriaceous, yellow-brown, spines T V~| in. ; bristles of receptacle white. 

 Fruit grey, pubescent: pappus white. DISTRIB. "W. and S. Europe to 

 Italy. 



SECTION 4. Calci'trapa. Invol. bracts ending in a long strong spine. 



6. C. Calci'trapa, L. ; rigid, diffusely branched from beneath the heads, 

 leaves pinnatifid, lobes recurved aristate, spines of bracts long spreading, 

 with a few smaller basal, pappus 0. Star-thistle. 



Dry waste places, rare, from Norfolk and S. Wales to Cornwall and Kent ; 

 Channel Islands; probably a denizen; fl. July-Sept. Biennial, 1-2 ft., 

 cottony or glabrous, branches leafy, spreading, stout. Leaves 1-3 in., often 

 interruptedly pinnatifid, lobes distant, slender. Heads lateral and sessile, or 

 terminating leafy branches, % in. diam. ; spines as long, yellow and chan- 

 nelled above. Flowers rose-purple. Fruit white or mottled brown. 

 DISTRIB. From Holland southd., N. Africa, N.W. India; introd. in N. 

 America. 



C. SOLSTITIA'LIS, L. ; erect, branched, cottony, stem winged, lower 

 leaves lyrate, upper linear entire decurrent, spines of upper bracts long 

 spreading with a few smaller ones at the base, pappus soft. 



Fields in E. and S. England, rare; introd. with lucern, &c. ; fl. July-Sept. 

 Annual, much branched, 1-2 ft. Stem rigid, branches twiggy, terminated 

 by peduncled heads. Leaves very variable. Heads globose, % in. diam., 

 spines as long, not channelled, those of the outer bracts very small. Flowers 

 yellow. Fruit white ; pappus copious, white, as long as the fruit. DISTKIB. 

 Mediterranean region (naturalized in all warm climates.) 



