Onopordon. | XLII, COMPOSITA. 255 
or pinnatifid, waved and very prickly, their broadly-decurrent margins 
forming prickly wings all down the stem. Flower-heads large, globular, 
erect, and solitary on the branches of a large irregular panicle. In- 
volucral bracts numerous, ending in a lony, lanceolate, spreading prickle. 
Hairs of the pappus ratber longer than the achenes, not feathery, but 
strongly toothed when seen under a magnifying-glass, 
A native of the Mediterranean region and west-central Asia, not un- 
common also in central Europe and all across Russian Asia, but spreads 
readily with cultivation, and it is difficult to say how far north it is indi- 
genous. Now found in several parts of England, but certainly not wild in 
Scotland, although generally selected to represent the Scotch heraldic 
Thistle. £7. end of summer. 
XXVII. CARLINA. CARLINE. 
Low, very prickly herbs. Outer bracts of the involucre very prickly, 
inner ones coloured or shining, long, and spreading like the rays ofa star. 
Receptacle bearing irregularly éut, chaffy scales between the florets. 
Achenes silky-hairy, witha feathery pappus. 
A small European and Asiatic genus, easily distinguished by the involu- 
cral bracts. 
1, ©. vulgaris, Linn, (fig.569). Common Carline.—An erect bien- 
nial, seldom above 6 or 8 inches high. Leaves not decurrent, toothed, or 
pinnatifid, and very prickly ; the lower ones narrow, slightly covered with 
loose cottony wool; the upper ones broader and nearly glabrous. Flower- 
heads hemispherical, about an inch in diameter, usually 3 or 4 in a 
small terminal corymb. Outer involucral bracts broadly lanceolate, 
bordered with very prickly teeth or lobes; inner ones linear, entire, with 
very smooth and shining, horizontally-spreading tips. 
In dry, hilly pastures, and fields, throughout Europe and Russian Asia, 
except the extreme north. Rather common in England and Ireland, ex- 
tending into a few Scottish counties. LV. swmmer and autumn. 
XXVIII, CENTAUREA, CENTAUREA. 
Herbs, with entire or pinnatifid leaves, seldom prickly, and purple, blue, 
or sometimes yellow flowers. Involucres globular or ovoid, the bracts 
numerous, ending either in a prickle or in a fringed or toothed appendage. 
Outer row of florets usually larger than the others, and neuter. Recep- 
tacle bearing bristles between the florets. Achenes glabrous, with a short 
pappus of simple hairs or scales, sometimes very short, or rarely quite 
wanting. 
One of the most numerous genera of Cynaroidee inthe Mediterranean 
and Caucasian regions, with a very few American species. The enlarged 
outer florets, the most prominent character of the genus, are seldom 
deficient, and that chiefly in a common variety of our own Centaurea 
nigra. In that case the fringed involucral bracts as readily indicate the 
genus, 
'Involucres not prickly, or with very small prickly points to the 
bracts. 
TInvolucral bracts with a broad, black, or brown fringed border 
or appendage. 
