Centaurea. | XLIII. COMPOSITH. 257 
flower.—An erect, branching annual, about 2 feet high, covered with a 
loose cottony down. Lower leaves usually toothed or pinnatifid; upper 
ones, or sometimes nearly all, linear and entire. Involucres solitary, on 
long terminal peduncles, ovoid ; the bracts appressed, often ending in a 
‘minute prickle, and bordered by a fringe of very small teeth. Central 
florets of a bluish purple ; outer ones much larger, of a bright blue. Pappus 
about the length of the achene. 
Apparently of south European or west Asiatic origin, but now spread as 
a cornfield weed over a great part of Europe and Asia. Not uncommon in 
British cornfields, and formerly much cultivated in flower-gardens, where it 
will sport much as to colour. Sl. all summer. 
4, C. aspera, Linn. (fig. 573). Jersey Centaurea.—A biennial or 
perennial, much branched, very spreading or prostrate, with hard but not 
thick branches, glabrous, or rough with minute hairs. Leaves narrow; the 
lower ones pinnatifid, the upper ones entire. Flower-heads solitary at the 
ends of the branches, with one or two leaves close under them, Involucres 
about the size of those of C. Cyanus, with appressed glabrous bracts, not 
fringed, but most or all of them ending in a palmate appendage of 5 
minute prickles or points, C. Isnardi, Linn. 
In waste lands, not far from the sea; very common on the Mediterranean, 
and extending up the west coast of Europe to Guernsey. /. summer and 
autumn. 
5. C. Calcitrapa, Linn. (fig.574). Star-thistle Centaurea.—A coarse, 
green annual, sometimes slightly covered with cottony down, seldom rising 
to a foot in height, but with very spreading or prostrate branches. Leaves 
pinnatifid, with a few long linear or lanceolate lobes. Flower-heads sessile 
among the upper leaves or in the forks of the branches, not large in them- 
‘selves, but the involucral bracts end in stiff spreading spines, 4 to 1 inch 
long, with 1 or 2 smaller prickles at their base. Florets purple. Achenes 
without any pappus. 
In waste places, and on roadsides, in central and especially southern 
- Europe to the Caucasus, and most abundant near the sea. Found occasion- 
ally in some of the southern counties of England, but scarcely further north- 
ward. LV. summer and autumn, — 
6. C. solstitialis, Linn. (fig. 575). Yellow Centaurea.—A stiff, erect 
annual, 1 to 2 feet high, with few branches, and covered with a white 
cottony wool. Radical leaves pinnatifid, upper ones small and linear, de- 
current in long narrow wings along the stem. Flower-heads solitary at the 
ends of the branches, nearly globular; the innermost bracts ending in a 
small sbining appendage; the intermediate ones in a long spreading 
prickle, with one or two small ones at its base ; the outermost usually with 
only a few small palmate prickles, as in C. aspera. Florets of a bright 
ellow. 
7% In waste and cultivated places, in southern Europe and western Asia, 
especially near the sea, and, as a weed of cultivation, widely spread over 
Europe, Asia, and other parts of the world. In Britain, it appears occasion- 
ally in cornfields, and sometimes in waste places near the sea. Fl. summer 
and autumn, 
Reece | eS me 
