COMPOSITE 177 



INULA L. 



Ray-flowers, female or neuter, in one row. Capitula solitary or 

 in corymbs. Receptacle flat. Involucral bracts in several rows. 



Inula montana, L. 



About a foot high, and resembling /. britannica, but with only 

 one terminal capitulum, and leaves almost linear, not amplexicaul. 

 The involucre is imbricate, and the fruit twice as large as in that 

 species. Lower leaves oblong-lanceolate, longly petioled, and 

 whole plant covered with whitish hairs. Capitulum large and 

 handsome. Flowers bright yellow, the linear ligules being much 

 longer than the involucral bracts, which are very unequal. 



Dry, arid places on limestone in the Western Alps, Eastern 

 Pyrenees, Spain, and Piedmont. Formerly near Martigny, but 

 now not nearer Switzerland than the Aosta Valley. June, July. 



CIRSIUM. Thistle. 



Involucre ovoid or globose. Involucral bracts narrow, stiff, 

 acuminate or spiny. Receptacle pitted, bristly. Flowers all 

 tubular. Branches of style united into a tube with a ring of hairs 

 at the base. Pappus feathery. Erect herbs with spiny leaves. 



Cirsium eriophorum Scop. 



A very stout, handsome thistle, 3 feet high or more, with large 

 and globular flower-heads in clusters of 2 or 3 at the ends of the 

 branches. Leaves green and hairy above, white and cottony 

 beneath, deeply pinnate, with narrow lobes ending in very sharp, 

 stout prickles. Involucres covered with cottony wool, the numerous 

 bracts ending in a narrow prickle. Corolla purple, rarely white. 



Waste places and mountain pastures. June to August. 



It ascends to about 5000 feet in the Alps, as, for example, about 

 the village of Tour below the Col de Balme, where it is a handsome 

 feature in the landscape. 



Distribution. Central and Southern Europe, as far as the 

 Caucasus. Southern Britain. 



Cirsium acaule Scop. Dwarf Thistle. 



Stemless, or with very short stem (var. caulescens Gremli). 



A thick, woody stock bearing a tuft of spreading, prickly, pin- 

 natifid, glabrous leaves, from the centre of which rises one, rarely 

 more, flower-heads. Involucre ovoid, not cottony, with numerous 

 lanceolate, rather obtuse bracts. Florets purple. 



Dry mountain pastures, especially on limestone, and extending 

 to a height of 6800 feet. 



Distribution. Eastern, Central, and Western Alps. Temperate 

 Europe and Northern Asia, extending to Southern Scandinavia. 

 British. 



