8 
in form, with a thick and matted appearance due to the develop¬ 
ment of a great number of branches ; the other, grown under adverse 
circumstances, will present an open, straggling appearance, because 
the branches are fewer in number, farther apart, and usually very 
short. The matter of color seems largely dependant upon water; 
plants upon ditch banks, or in other moist situations, have a dark 
green color, which they retain until quite late in the season ; those 
deprived of water are early tinged with red, and this color deepens 
as the season advances. 
The Russian thistle is an annual. It comes from seed each 
year, produces seed in its durn, and then dies. The young plants 
are smooth and succulent, showing none of the characters which 
mark the mature plant. The early leaves are slender and thread¬ 
like, from one to two inches long, each tipped with a spine; on 
either side, at the base of each leaf, is a short spine, and above the 
leaves appear branches, which at first seem to be clusters of spines 
and sliort leaves. These branches are 
near or remote, longer short, according to 
circumstances; on vigorous plants the 
branching continues until growth ceases,, 
and even the late branches may be from 
three to six inches in length. On dwarfed 
specimens the late branches remain quite 
short, an inch or less long. On all plants 
the leaves produced late in the season are 
very short, commonly but little longer 
than the spines, so that the branches ap¬ 
pear to bear spines only, and these in 
clusters of three. [See Fig. 1.] As the 
plant approaches maturity, these spines 
become more rigid, imparting that char¬ 
acter which evidently suggested the ap¬ 
plication of the name thistle. The long leaves produced 
early in the season wither and usually fall away as the plant 
nears maturity, so that many plants appear to be almost leafless. 
Immediately above, and close down in the angle, between the 
clusters of spines and the stem, is borne a single flower. [See 
Fig. 2.] The number of flowers on a plant is, however, large, 
because the clusters of spines are near together. We have counted 
thirty-five on a branch three inches in length, and the average of 
several branches counted was nine to the inch. The flowers are in¬ 
conspicuous and vary in appearance on different plants ; sometimes 
they are pale red, but oftener green or greenish. As the fruit begins 
to mature, the floral envelope surrounding each flower enlarges 
somewhat and spreads out until it often measures a quar¬ 
ter of an inch across. The fruit which is held within this 
floral envelope is small, with rough exterior, and of a light- 
Fia. 2.—Single flower enlarged 3 
times The flower rests in the 
axil of the leaf, between the 
divergent bracts; the stem is 
shown below the flower only 
