COMPOSITE FAMILY 



277 



bifid lobes, the segments lanceolate, entire, and ending in a strong 

 spine, white and downy beneath ; heads terminal, mostly solitary, 

 sometimes 2 or 3 together, stalked, egg-shaped, about an inch 

 across ; bracts lanceolate, spinous, spreading, woolly ; florets dull 

 purple. — Waste places and hedges; abundant. — Fl. July — 

 October. Biennial. 



5. C. erwphorus (Woolly-headed Plume-Thistle).— Stem 3 — 5 



carduus nutans (Thistle). 



carduus lanceolatus (Spear Plume Thistle). 



feet high, not winged ; leaves half clasping at the base ; heads 2 — 

 3 in. across, globose, with a thick white wool and long reflexed 

 spines to the involucre. — Waste ground on calcareous soil ; local. 

 — Fl. July — September. Biennial. 



6. C. palustris (Marsh Plume-Thistle).— The tallest of British 

 Thistles, 3 — 10 feet high, consisting of a single, stout, hollow 

 stem, branched towards the summit, and spinously winged through- 

 out by the decurrent leaves, which are thickly armed with short, 

 often brownish, spines and are usually downy beneath; heads 



