420 DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES 



except the base, the form linear-lanceolate, with very long points, all nearly attaining the same 

 common height. Pappus plumose, as usual, and clavellate ; the florets unequally cleft, and the 

 anthers caudate at base. — Nearly allied to C. remotifolium. 



Circium *canescens; %, dwarf and slender, canescently tomentose; leaves 

 lanceolate, decurrent, pinnatifid, undulated segments oblong, bifid, spinescent, 

 and with spiny serratures; capituli few, (three to five,) conglomerate, sessile; 

 involucrum slightly pubescent, the scales lanceolate, with rigid, erect spines, 



Hab. In the arid deserts of the Platte. The root creeping as in C. arvense. Stem about eight 

 to ten inches high, and, as well as the leaves, arachnoidly tomentose and canescent. Leaves three 

 or four inches long, about an inch wide, nearly white on both sides, most so beneath, decurrent, 

 with narrow spiny margins. Flowers few; the capitulum somewhat hemispherical, the spines 

 stout and rather broad. Florets pale rose, unequally cleft. Anthers caudate at base, and lacerate. 

 Pappus plumose and slenderly thickened above. 



Circium * edule; annual or biennial, nearly smooth ; stem pubescent, angular 

 and grooved; leaves lanceolate, amplexicaule, moderately pinnatifid, segments 

 obtuse, almost equally two-lobed, spinescent and spinulosely ciliate; capituli 

 terminal, conglomerate, sessile, by three and five together; involucrum subglo- 

 bose, arachnoidly tomentose, the scales linear-lanceolate, terminating in short, 

 erect spines. 



Hab. The plains of Oregon and the Blue Mountains : common. Three to four feet high, robust 

 and somewhat succulent; flowers purple, nearly the size of those of C. lanceolatum, growing in lateral 

 and terminal clusters, corolla unequally cleft, anthers caudate, appendage lacerate; cusps of the anthers 

 lanceolate, filaments, as in all the preceding, pilose and hirsute. Pappus plumose. Allied to C. 

 foliosum. The young stems, stripped of their bark, are commonly eaten raw by the aborigines, 

 and have a somewhat pleasant and sweetish taste. 



Circium "^ scariosum; 2/? dwarf and robust; stem and mid-rib of the leaves 

 above and beneath softly and copiously pilose; leaves narrow lanceolate, be- 

 neath whitely tomentose, amplexicaule, pinnatifid, segments lanceolate, termi- 

 nated and ciliated with long spines, uppermost leaves and bractes linear, very 

 spiny; capituli conglomerate, sessile, roundish; involucrum somewhat arach- 

 noidly tomentose, the scales lanceolate and acuminated with rather slender 

 spines, inner scales terminating in scariose, lanceolate, fimbriate, reflected 

 points. 



Hab. The plains of the Rocky Mountains. Stem stout, about nine inches or a foot high, leafy: 

 the leaves about half an inch to an inch wide, and four to six inches long, the segments of the stem 

 leaves very short, ending in long spines ; capituli three to five ; two or three series of inner, 

 scariosely appendaged scales. Corolla unequally cleft, ringent ; anthers lacerately caudate ; pappus 



