OF ORNAMENTAL PERENNIALS. 
35 
was introduced in 1800. It is a biennial, and is very ornamental, from the great number and bright colour of 
its flowers. The receptacle is thickly covered with soft white hairs, among which the seeds, each crowned with 
a feathery pappus, are imbedded. 
GENUS XXXIV. 
ERYTHROLiENA, D. Don. THE SCARLET THISTLE. 
Lin. Syst. SYNGENESIA ^QUALIS. 
narrow at the base ; filaments glandulously pilose. Anthers bristly 
at the base. Stigma two-cleft, segments approximate. Pappus ses- 
sile, feathery. 
Generic Character. — Involucre conical. Scales numerous ; inner 
one imbricated, entire ; outer ones reflexed, and spinously dentate. 
Receptacle convex, hairy. Florets all hermaphrodite, tubular ; limb 
five-parted ; segments linear, fleshy at the apex ; tube five-angled. 
Description, &c.— There is only one species of this very singular genus : the name of Erythrolaena signifies 
a scarlet cloak, and alludes to the scarlet scales of the involucre. 
THE SHOWY MEXICAN SCARLET THISTLE. 
hut paler on the under side, reticulately veined, segments spreading, 
spinously dentate, undulated ; upper one lanceolate, spinously dentate. 
Involucre smooth ; scales lanceolate, acuminate. 
1.— ERYTHROL.a:NA CONSPICUA, D. Don. 
Engravings. — Brit. Flow. Card. t. 134 ; and our^^. 1 in PI. 58. 
Specific Character. — Stem erect, branched ; lower leaves lanceo- 
lately pinnatifid, somewhat pubescent ; upper ones dark-green, shining, 
Description, &c. — This very showy plant has a stem eight feet high, with numerous branches j the leaves 
are very stiff and spiny, somewhat resembling those of the holly ; the lower ones are more than three feet long, 
and more than a foot in breadth. The flowers are terminal; but they appear clustered at the end of the main stem, 
from the number of short branches into which it is divided at the upper part, each of which is crowned with 
a flower. The involucre is regularly conical, tapering to a point before expansion, and it is of a bright glossy 
scarlet ; the flowers are insignificant, and in fact the plant looks much best before they are expanded ; as at that 
period, from its large leaves and the brilliancy of its scarlet involucres, it is a most splendid object. It requires a 
free air and plenty of room, but it will grow in any common garden soil. It is a native of Mexico, whence it was 
introduced in 1824. 
GENUS XXXV. 
ONOPORDUM, Lin. THE COTTON THISTLE. 
Lin. Syst. SYNGENESIA tEQUALIS. 
Generic Character. — Receptacle honey-combed. Pappus hairy. Involucre imbricated. Scales mucronate. 
Description, &c. — The common Cotton Thistle is a native of Britain, where it is known by its purple 
flowers, and the dense, cottony web that covers the whole plant, but is easily detached by rubbing. The 
receptacle is succulent, and was formerly eaten like that of the artichoke. The seeds are oily, and are a favourite 
food for some kinds of birds ; in France they have also been used for making oil. There is only one ornamental 
species of this genus, or rather there is only one cultivated in gardens. The name Onopordum signifies “ to 
swell out an ass and it is supposed to allude to asses being so fond of the plant as to eat so much as to make 
them ill. 
