COMPOSITE FAMILY. 187 



C. VirginiS,num, Vikginia T. Chiefly S- & W. on plains and barrens, 

 with rather simple stems 1° - 3° high, ending in a long naked peduncle ; leaves 

 lanceolate and sli;;htly or not at all pinnatitid ; head small, y. 



C. discolor, Two-colored T. Low grounds, 3° - 6° high, branching 

 and leafy, with rather small heads, and deeply pinnatitid leaves green above 

 white beneath, their lobes narrow and prickly pointed. ® 



3. SILYBUM, MILK THISTLE. (An ancient Greek name.) 



S. Mari&uum, the only species, cult in some gardens and rarely rnnning 

 wild, from the Old World, well marked by its white-blotched or veined smootl^ 

 leaves with clasping base and merely sinuate prickly mai-gins ; flowers purple, 

 in late summer. ® ® 



4. ONOPORDON, COTTON or SCOTCH THISTLE. (The ancient 

 Greek name.) 



O. Ac^nthium. Nat. from Eu. in waste places : tall, white-cottony, wi'th 

 weak prickles on the sinuate-pinnatitid leaves and the broad leaf-like wings of 

 the stem and branches ; flowers purple, late summer. ® 



5. LAPPA, BURDOCK. (Name from a Greek word meaning to Imj hold 

 of, from the burs or hook-awned heads.) 



, L. officinalis, var. majou, the Cojimon B., with large leaves loosely 

 cottony beneath, or -somewhat naked, the lower heart-shaped, upper ovate, is 

 common in manured soil and barnyards. Var. minor is smaller and smoother, 

 with leaves- tapering at the base, often cut-toothed or cleft. Fl. mostly purple, 

 all summer and autumn. ® ® 



6. CABTHAMUS, SAFFLOWER, FALSE SAFFRON. (Arabic 

 name of the plant, from the properties of the orange-colored flowers, which 

 are used in dying or coloring yellow, as a substitute for true Saffron.) 



C. tinctbrius, the only common species, cult, in country gardens, from the 

 Orient ; smooth, 6' - 12' high, with ovate-oblong leaves and large head, in 

 summer. ® 



7. CNICUS, BLESSED THISTLE. (Greek name of a kind of Thistle.) 

 C. benedlctUS, the only species, scarce in waste places S., from Eu. ; has 



much branched loosely woolly stems, leafy up to the rather small heads of yel- 

 lowish flowers, and pale pinnatifld leaves with slightly prickly edges. 



8. CENTAXJBEA, CENTAUREA or STAR-THISTLE. (Ancient 

 name, after Chiron the Centaur. ) Fl. summer. 



§ 1 . Flowers all alike in the head, the marginal ones not enlarged and ray-like : 

 pappus of very short bristles ; scales of head with durk fringed appendage. 



C. nigra, Black C. or Knapweed. A coarse weed, in fields and waste 

 places E., nat. from Eu.; stem 2° high; leaves roughish, lance-oblong, the 

 lower with some coarse teeth ; flowers purple. % 



§ 2. Marginal flowers more or less enlarged, farming a kind of false ray, and 

 sterile: pappus of bristles : scales of head with fringed appendage. 



C. Ciner&ria, or candid^ssima, a low species, cult, from S. Eu. with 

 very white-woolly twice pinnatitid leaves, and purple flowers, the outermost 

 little enlarged : not hardy N. y. 



C. Americ&na. Cult, from Arkansas and Texas : smooth, with stout 

 stem l°-2° high, oblong or lance-oblong leaves, the upper entire, very large 

 head of showy pale purple flowers, the outer ones much enlarged, and the scales 

 with large scarious-fringed appendage. ® 



C. C^anus, Bldebottle or Cornflower. In gardens, from Eu., spar- 

 ingly running wild ; loosely cottony, with stem-leaves liuew sncl mostly entire. 



