^ SYNGENESIA POLYGAMIA .^Q. Cnicus. 231 

 CNICUS. Plume-thistle. 



* Leaves running down the stem (decitrrent.^ Stem winged. 



Cn. lanceoldtus, Spear P. T. Leaves running- down^ 

 the stem, wing-cleft, hispid, -with variously-spreading, 

 thorny lobes. Calyx egg-shaped, shaggy. Stem 

 furrowed, hairy. Carduus lanceolatus. E. B. IO7. 

 Sb. 2M. Carduus lanceatus. G. E, 117^. 

 Waste ground^ hanks by road sides. 

 Bien. July. 



Three or four f. Fl. terminal, erect, large, piirple. Stem covered 

 Kke the back of the leaves and calyx with a cotton-like web. 

 Cal.-sc:ales spear-shaped, thorny, spreading. Point of the leaves 

 long, very sharp. Ls. green, rough on the upper side, ]ioary 

 underneath. Cal.-scales innermost bristly, dry, unarmed. 

 Recept. hair^^, conical, 



A shelter for other plants : one of the first to grow where other 

 plants would not thrive. The fl. like those of the artichoke curdle 

 milk. Larva of Cin. Cardui' feeds on this. iVlmost all the 

 species of Card, and Cnicus, may be eaten, when young. Bien- 

 nial weed, readily destroyed by mowing it before it seeds. 



Cn. palustris. Marsh P. T. Leaves running down the 

 stem, wing-cleft, toothed, thorny, rough. Flowers 

 crowded. Calyx egg-shaped, minutely thorny, nearly 

 smooth. Carduus palustris. E. B. 974. C. 6. 56, 

 Sb. 245. 



Moist meadows, pastures, watery spots hy road sides. 



Bien. July. 



Stem erect, three to six f., very straight, with long, wand-like 

 branches, deep green, often purplish. Ls. dark green. Fl. 

 terminal, deep purple, sometimes white. Cal. with abrupt, close 

 scales, tippped with small, short, harmless prickles. Cal.-scales 

 woolly, green, tipped with deep purple, without a rib along the 

 back. 

 ^* Leaves stalkless, or partially running down the stem. Stem 



not winged. 



Cn. arvensis. Creeping P. T. Cursed Thistle. Leaves 

 stalkless, wing-cleft, thorny, nearly smooth. Stem 

 panicled, solid. Calyx egg-shaped ; outer scales 

 thorny. Root creeping, tuberous. Carduus arvensis. 

 E. B. 975. C. 6. 57. Sb. 245. C. vulgatissimus 

 viarum. G. E. 1173. 



' Jermyn's (nowMrs. Ford's) Butterfly Collector's Vade Mecum : a pleasing, 

 useful work, on British Butterflies. 12nio. 



