278 ' comp6sitve 



small, egg-shaped, in a terminal leafy cluster ; bracts adpressed, 

 slightly webbed ; florets deep crimson, or sometimes white. — 

 Moist places ; abundant. — Fl. July — September. Biennial. 



7. C. tuber dsus (Tuberous Plume-Thistle). — Root of spindle- 

 shaped, tuberous fibres ; stem 2 feet high, single, erect, round, 

 hairy, leafless above ; leaves not decurrent, deeply pinnatifid, 

 fringed with minute prickles ; heads generally solitary, large, egg- 

 shaped ; florets crimson. — Grows only in Wiltshire. — Fl. August, 

 September. Perennial. 



8. C. pratensis (Meadow Plume-Thistle). — A small plant, ) 2 — 



cXrduus pal^stris {Marsh Plume Thistle). 



18 in. high, with fibrous roots ; a cottony stem, giving off runners ; 

 few leaves, mostly radical, soft, wavy, fringed with minute spines, 

 not decurrent j and generally solitary heads, with adpressed, 

 slightly cottony bracts and crimson florets. — Wet meadows ; not 

 general. — Fl. June — August. Perennial. 



9. C. heterophyllus (Melancholy Plume-Thistle). — Stem 2—4 

 feet high, erect, cottony, furrowed, slightly branched above, with 

 runners ; leaves large, clasping, not decurrent, serrate with minute 

 spines, smooth above, white and downy beneath ; head large, 



