( 
Culm from two to three feet high : Spiko' 
bearded, flat, near a foot in length. 
Virgil's avena in the verfe above quoted, 
was probably the Avenajlrigofa of Schreber, 
which Dr. Withering calls Scrannel grafs. 
Ono- The magnificent plant, with pur- 
ple flowers, growing on that dry 
bank, demands your notice on ac- 
count of its ftately appearance; but 
more efpecially becaufe of its fmgu- 
larity. It is the only fpecies, in this 
kingdom, of the genus to which it 
belongs. We call it a Thiftle; but 
that appellation comprehends feverafr 
diftincl: genera in the modern fyftem 
of botany. Our excellent botanift 
Ray, confidered it as a Carduus, to- 
which family it feems naturally to 
belong. Linnseus, after Haller, calls 
it Onopordum, with the fpeeific name 
acanthium. It is our Cotton-thiftle, 
fo called from the grey down that 
gives it this whitifh appearance. It 
is eafily diftinguiftied by its fuperior 
fubftance and height; its decurrent 
leaves, or wings, on the item and 
branches, and by its very large bot- 
tom 
