394 SYNGENESIA— POLYGAMIA-iEQU. Cnicus. 



prickles j minutely hairy or downy above ; loosely cottony, but 

 not very white, beneath ; radical ones several, staked, erect ; 

 those on the stem few, small, clasping at the base. Fl. smaller, 

 and of a paler purple than the preceding. Cal. loosely clothed 

 with cobweb-like down ; its outer scales obscurely ribbed, ovate, 

 tapering to a spinous point ; inner long and narrow, coloured, 

 taper-pointed, scarcely spinous. Seed-down feathery, with sim- 

 ple tips. 

 The variety (3, as far as can be judged from its short description, 

 appears rather to belong to this species than to C. palustris, un- 

 der which it is placed in Fl. Brit. Plukenet found this plant in 

 the isle of Ely, and Dillenius appears not to have seen a spe- 

 cimen. 



9. C. acaulis. Dwarf Plume-thistle. 



Stalks radical, single-flowered, shorter than the smooth 

 calyx. 



C. acaulis. WiUd.Sp.Pl.v.3. \68l. Comp.ed.4.]34. Hook. Scot. 



237. 

 Carduus acaulis, Linn. Sp. PL 1156. Fl. Br. 855. Engl. Bot.v.3. 



t.l6\. Jacq.Ic.Rar.t.579. H. Dan. 1. 1 114. 

 Cirsium n. 178. Hall.Hist.v. 1. 77. 

 Carlina acaulis, minore purpureo flore. Raii Syn. 195. 

 C. acaulos minor, flore purpureo. Ger. Em. 1158./. 

 C. minor purpureo flore. Clus. Hist. v. 2. 156. 

 C. montana minor acaulos. Barrel. Ic. t.493. 

 Chamaeleon exiguus. Trag. Hist. 852./. Bauh. Hist. v. 3. p. 1. 



62./. 63. 

 Dwarf Thistle. Petiv. H. Brit. t.2l.f.6. 



In pastures and meadows, on a gravelly or chalky soil. 



Too abundant in many fields and upland grounds in Dorsetshire. 

 Dr. Pulteney. Very frequent on commons in Norfolk and se- 

 veral other counties. In the time of Gerarde it grew on Black- 

 heath. 



Perennial. July, August. 



Root woody, stout, blackish, simple, running deep into the ground. 

 Stem entirely wanting. Leaves several, spreading close to the 

 ground, in a circle near a foot in diameter, choking all other 

 herbage, stalked, pinnatifid, bright green, smooth ; their seg- 

 ments somewhat palmate, abundantly prickly. Fl. one or more, 

 either quite sessile, or on short, simple, downy stalks, of a fine 

 crimson, as large as those of Cnicus lanceolatus. Cal. ovate, 

 green, without any web or hairs, but the scales are a little downy 

 at the edges. Seed-down feathery. 



When cultivated in the fertile soil of a garden, this plant, like 

 Carlina acaulis, and several of the next genus, acquires a stem, 

 3 or 4 inches in height, bearing 3 or AJioicers. 



