The Life of the Weevil 
she has two establishments: the corymbed 
carlina in the plain and the acanthus-leaved 
carlina on the slopes of Mont Ventoux. 
To those who stop at the general aspect 
and do not have recourse to delicate floral 
analyses, the two plants have nothing in 
common. The countryman, clever though 
he be at distinguishing one plant from 
another, would never think of calling the two 
by the same generic name. As for the civil- 
ized townsman, unless he be a botanist, 
don’t speak of him: his testimony here would 
be worse than useless. 
The corymbed carlina has a tall, slender 
stem; thin, sparse leaves; a bunch of average 
flowers, with a receptacle less than half the 
size of an acorn. ‘The acanthus-leaved car- 
lina spreads, level with the soil, a large, 
fierce rosette of broad leaves which in shape 
is not unlike the ornament of a Corinthian 
capital. There is no stem. In the centre 
of the leaf-cluster is a flower, one only, but a 
giant, big as a man’s fist. . 
The people of Mont Ventoux call this 
magnificent thistle the ‘mountain artichoke.” 
1 The nearest mountain to the author’s village. Cf. 
The Hunting Wasps: chap. xi—Translator’s Note. 
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