342 THISTLE. 



downy, naked above, from three to five feet in height. The 

 leaves are alternate, large, sinuated, spiny, beautifully marbled 

 on the upper side with white veins ; the radical ones are pinna- 

 tifid, one foot or more in length, spreading on the ground ; 

 those of the stem are sessile, amplexicaul, spreading, ovate- 

 lanceolate. The flowers are solitary at the summit of the 

 branches, large and purple. The involucre is composed of nu- 

 merous imbricated recurved scales, spinous at the margin and 

 end ; the lowermost roundish, edged with spines, smaller than 

 those above, which are concave, channelled, recurved, and pro- 

 duced at the summit into a spreading concave leaflet, tapering 

 into a rigid straight spine, the upper and innermost are lanceo- 

 late, ciliated, and destitute of spines. The florets are perfect, 

 funnel-shaped, with a whitish curved tube, and an erect limb of 

 five equal linear segments, globose at the base and nectariferous. 

 The filaments are very short and slender, supporting purplish 

 anthers, united into a tube. The germen is ovate, compressed, 

 whitish, surmounted by a filiform style, longer than the stamens, 

 slightly hairy above, terminated by a bifid stigma. The recep- 

 tacle is pilose with flat glabrous hairs. The fruit consists of 

 achenia, which are oval, slightly gibbous, angular, blackish or 

 mottled, shining, smooth, crowned with a simple, subulate, rigid, 

 somewhat oblique pappus. Plate 44, fig. 1 ; (a) floret ; (b) 

 fruit, crowned with the pappus. 



This plant is a native of the south and middle of Europe, 

 and is not uncommon in several parts of England, on banks, 

 rubbish, and by road-sides, flowering in June and July. 



According to Theis, the generic name is derived from the 

 Celtic arc?*, a point, in reference to the spiny leaves. The 

 specific name has been given in accordance with the idea for- 

 merly cherished, that the white veins on the leaves were caused 

 by a drop of the Virgin Mary's milk f ; hence also the English 

 terms, Lady's Thistle, i. e., our Lady's Thistle, and Milk 

 Thistle. It is generally supposed, that the <nXv&ov mentioned 

 by Dioscorides is identical with this plant, and Gcertner has 



* Whence also the Greek afivs ; the Latin arduus and cardo ; and the 

 English cardinal. 



f There is, however, an heretical variety which is destitute of these 

 milky veins ; in this case, the large recurved scales of the involucre form a 

 sufficient distinctive character. 



