8 
L it I 
in form, with a thick and matted appearance due to the develop 
ment of a great number of branches ; the other, grown under adver; 
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 w 
plants upon ditch banks, or in other moist situations, have a 
green color, which they retain until' quite late in the season ; 
deprived of water are early tinged with red, and this color d? 
as the season advances. 
The Russian thistle is an annual. It comes from se< 
year, produces seed in its turn, and then dies. The young 
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 short leaves. These branches are 
near or remote, long or 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 longei 
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- 
Fig. 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 
