S. TINCTO'RIA. Leaves (serrated, E.) lyre-shaped and wing-cleft; the terminal segment very large: florets all alike: (seed-down rather bristly. E.) Fl. Dan. 281-E. Bot. 38-Ger. 577.3—Matth. 945. 1—Clus. ii. 8. 1-Dod. 42. 3-Lob. Obs. 288. 2, and Ic. i. 534-Ger. Em. 713. 1-Pet. 22. 6— J. B. iii. 23. 2-Park. 475. a. (Herb rigid, smooth and shining. Sm. E.) Stem two to three feet high, firm, four-cornered, scored, smooth. Leaves sometimes entire, mostly wing-cleft, alternate, half embracing the stem; wings spear-shaped, sharply serrated, or rather toothed, woolly above, and at the edges and veins underneath. Flowers purple, single or in clusters, terminal, or on the branches. Calyx scales numerous (slightly coloured, E.) cottony at the edges, the upper rather longer. Down yellowish, shining, hairy. Woodw. (The flowers of this plant, (as of some species of Carduus, not usually considered so,) are proved to be dioecious. See Linn. Tr. xii. 123. xiii. 593. E.) COMMON SAW-WORT. (Welsh: Dant y pysgodyn. E.) Woods, pastures. (Rare in the north. On the coast of Durham, near Whitburn; and near Hilton Ferry. Mr. Wiuch. Banks of the Clyde, between Daldowie and Bothwell. Hopkirk. E.) P. July-(Aug. E.)* Var. 2. Blossoms white. Alconbury, five miles from Huntingdon, on the north road. Mr. Woodward. (In a small wood near Dulwich, (Aug. 1827), in abundance. Mag. Nat. Hist. i. 83. E.) Var. 3. All the leaves entire. Mr. Wood. Kniph. 2—Ger. 576. 1—Matth. 945. 2—Clus. ii. 8. 1—Dod. 42. 3—Lob. Obs, 288. 2, and Ic. 534. 1-Ger. Em. 713. 1-Pet. 22. 5-Park. 475. Var. 4. Lower leaves entire, the upper cut. Hall. Ger. 576. 2. Var. 5. All the leaves jagged, Hall; wing-cleft, without the large terminal segment. Wings spear-shaped, serrated. S. ALPINA. Zanon. 94. Calyx somewhat hairy, egg-shaped; leaves undivided, (cottony beneath: seed-down feathery. E.) (E. Bot. 599. E.)—Lightf. 19, at p. 449-Pluk. 154. 3—Gmel. ii. 26. Root-leaves egg-spear-shaped, serrated, the serratures not ending in bristles but expanding, smooth above, woolly and whitish underneath. Stem-leaves seven to ten, spear-shaped, very entire, nearly sessile. Stem undivided, a span high. Flowers eight to twelve, in a broad-topped terminal spike. Calyx oblong, nearly cylindrical. Linn. About five inches high. Stem cottony. Leaves six or seven; cottony underneath. Flowers about six; blue. Down stiff and strong, plumose. (ALPINE SAW-WORT. E.) On the highest rock of Snowdon; and on Brearcliff, near Burnley, Lancashire. Merrett. Sides of Highland Mountains, This plant is used by the dyers to give a yellow colour, fixed with alum; but is inferior to the Reseda, therefore confined to the coarser woollen cloths. (With blue it is said to afford a valuable green. E.) Goats eat it. Horses are not fond of it. Sheep, swine, and cows refuse it. and near Moffat, Anandale. Lightfoot. On the highest rocks of Carnar vonshire, as Clogwyn y Garnedd; on Crib y Ddeseil, in places scarcely accessible. Mr. Griffith. (Castle, and near the Church at Bewcastle, Cumberland. Hutchinson. On Ben Lawers and Lomond, and on the west side of Helvellyn. Mr. Winch. E.) P. Aug.-Sept. Var. 2. Cynoglossifolia. Leaves spear-shaped, narrow. Hall. Lightf. Fl. Dan. 37-Dill. Elth. 70-Gmel. ii. 32. Near a rivulet on the rock Rhiw'r Glyder above the lake Llyn y Cwn near Llanberis, Carnarvonshire. Ray. CAR'DUUS.* Calyx tumid, tiled; scales spinous: Receptacle hairy Down deciduous, capillary or feathery. (1) Leaves decurrent. C. PALUSTRIS. Leaves toothed, spinous at the edge: flowers in bunches, upright; fruit-stalks without thorns: (down feathery. E.) (E. Bot. 974. E.)-Gmel. ii. 23. 2-H. Ox. vii. 32. 13-Pet. 21. 4. Stem five to six feet high and upwards, upper part and branches slender and with few leaves. Calyx, scales woolly, green, tipped with deep purple, without a rib along the back, ending in a short expanding, not pungent, thorn; inner pointed, without thorns. Blossom segments even with the anthers, shorter than the pistil. Down shorter than the blossom rays fringed with long hairs, Woodw., (feathery. E.) Blossom purple; sometimes white. (MARSH THISTLE. Welsh: Ysgallen y gors. C. palustris. Linn. Cnicus palustris. Willd. Hook. Sm. Grev. E.) Marshy meadows, moist shady places, and wet clayey pastures. B. July.t (Supposed to be derived from xpw, a technical verb denoting the operation of carding wool; to which process the heads of some species are applicable. E.) This and almost all the other species may be eaten like the Burdock, before the flowers are formed. Swine eat it; horses are very fond of it; cows refuse it. (The woody galls observable on thistles are occasioned by two-winged flies Tephritis Cardui. Thistles in general can only be considered as noxious interlopers, to be eradicated by all possible means; (not being allowed to seed even by the road side ;) and for this purpose a new method has been lately suggested, which, though at first view, on a broad scale, apparently little less whimsical than that of catching birds by putting salt on their tails, has been thought worthy attention by practical agriculturists, as the following extracts from the Farmer's Journal evince:-" I have no doubt that salt may be of use in destroying thistles. I have made several experiments, which have uniformly been attended with success. The most effectual way is to cut off or bruise the thistle, and then put a small portion of salt on it; very few will survive this treatment." Another correspondent confirming the above report, " A small quantity of common salt, taken between the finger and thumb, and pressed upon the centre of the thistle, will in two or three days cause the plant to turn quite black; and in eight or ten days the root and every part will be destroyed. I have found this a cheap and certain mode of clearing land from thistles. One person will salt as many as four or five would cut up in the usual way; and with this difference, that the salt completely destroys the weeds, whereas the spud merely retards them for a short period, to be ultimately more productive." The same mode is equally effective with docks, nettles, &c., and as the mineral may now be obtained at a low price, and its application is a suitable occupation for children, the practice may merit more general adoption. E.) Var. 2. Cristatus. A monstrous variety, with a broad flat stem and head of flowers. Stem three quarters of an inch broad. Cluster of flowers two inches and a half broad, the upper edge crowned with a continued line of florets, so as to give it the appearance of the Cockscomb Amaranthus of the gardens. St. The root produced the same singular variety for two years together. C. ACANTHO'IDES. Leaves indented, spinous at the edge: calyx on fruit-stalks, solitary, upright, woolly: (scales strap-shaped, recurved down capillary. E.) Curt.-(E. Bot. 973. E.)—Jacq. Austr. 249-Lob. Ic. ii. 21-Tabern. 1080. 1-Ger. 1010. 1-Ger. Em. 1173. 1—J. B. iii. 59—H. Or. vii. 30. 11— Pet. 21. 2. Stem solitary, three or four feet high, angular, leafy, edged with a border set with numerous stiff yellow thorns of various lengths. Leaves, the lower wing-cleft; wings broad, blunt, obscurely five-cornered, with fivę imperfect lobes, the terminal one very broad and blunt, cottony under neath, above smooth, excepting a few short hairs arising from glandular warts; ribs ending in sharp yellow thorns; those above pointed, wings triangular, confluent. Flowers sessile, crowded, pointing upwards, sidewise, and downwards; sometimes in branched bunches, terminating the branches, on short fruit-stalks upright or open. Calyx scales spear-shaped, yellowish green, the upper expanding, the innermost chaffy, all tipped with sharp thorns. Blossom, segments somewhat longer than the anthers, which are even with the pistil. Down nearly as long as the blossom, hairlike. Woodw. Scales of the calyx scarcely thorny, not close as in C. palustris. Curt. Flowers purplish red, sometimes white. CURLED OF WELTED THISTLE. (Welsh: Ysgallen grych. E.) C. crispus. Huds. Lightf. C. polyacanthos. Curt. C. crispus of Linn. has not been found in these Islands. Ditch-banks, on rubbish, borders of corn-fields. Plentifully on banks and under walls near Yarmouth, and also in waste places far from the coast. Mr. Woodward. Road-sides about London. Dr. Stokes. (Near Bolleit, Land's End. Rev. Pike Jones. On Bryngwydryn, Anglesey. Welsh Bot. King's Park; Mr. Bainbridge: about Portobello, near Edinburgh. Dr. Greville. E.) A. June-Sept.* C. TENUIFLORUS. Leaves spinous at the edge: branches straight, flowers in clusters, sessile: calyx nearly cylindrical, scales upright, but open, pungent: (down capillary. E.) Curt.-(E. Bot. 412. E.)-J. B. iii. 56. 1. (not 516, as in Fl. Lond.)— Park. 982. 5-H. Ox. vii. 31. 13-(Pet. 21. 3. E.) Leaves Stem and branches quite straight, cottony upwards; bordered. cottony underneath. Calyx oblong-conical; scales upright, spreading at top, long, narrow, ending in a yellow thorn as long as the florets. Curt. Flowers pale-purplish red. (Florets fewer, aggregate, therefore more slender than in any other species. Plant three or four feet high. E.) (This is not one of the most troublesome of its tribe; being annual, and less abundant than some others. Papilio Cardui has been observed upon it. E.) SLENDER-FLOWERED THISTLE. (Welsh: Ysgallen mân-flodeuog. C. tenuiflorus. Curt. C. acanthoides. Huds. Lightf. With. Ed. 2. E.) Hedges, ditch-banks, and under walls; very common near London. (Between Edinburgh and Leith. Sir J. E. Smith. Near Redcar, Yorkshire, common. Rev. J. Dalton. Frequent on the coast of Suffolk and Sussex. About Dorchester, and Bensington, Oxfordshire. Sibthorp. Common about Newcastle, Northumberland. Mr. Winch. Near Beaumaris. Welsh Bot. Teignmouth, and Berry Head. Rev. Pike Jones. On Sydenham Common, Mr. Graves has often observed this species with a white flower. A. E.) July-Aug. C. LANCEOLA'TUS. (Leaves wing-cleft, hispid: segments spinous, wide, apart: calyx egg-shaped, spinous, woolly: stem hairy, furrowed: down feathery. E.) E. Bot. 107-Fl. Dan. 1173-Tabern. 1078. 2-Ger. 1011. 6-Ger. Em. 1174. 6-Park. 982. 9—H. Ox. vii. 31, row 1. 7-Pet. 21. 7—J. B. iii. 58. 1. Stem angular, cottony, frequently purple. Leaves half embracing the stem, cottony and glaucous underneath, hairy and deep green above; wings spear-shaped, the terminal one long, the side ones mostly divided to the base into two segments, one pointing upwards, the other downwards, terminating, as do also the wings of the part running down the stem, in sharp stiff white thorns, which are extensions of the ribs. Calyx with numerous ranges of spear-shaped scales, somewhat cottony, ending in sharp stiff white thorns, the inner strap-shaped, pointed, not thorny. Blossom purple. Down feathered, almost as long as the blossom. Woodw. (From two to five feet high, or more. Flowers large, solitary. E.) SPEAR THISTLE. (Welsh: March Ysgallen. Gaelic: An deilgneach. C. C. NU'TANS. Leaves decurrent half way down towards the next below: spinous fruit-stalks crooked: calyx, scales expanding upwards: (flowers solitary: down capillary. E.) : Fl. Dan. 675—(E. Bot. 1112. E.)—H. Ox. vii. 31, row 1. 6—Pet. 21. 1— J. B. iii. 56. 3. Stems two to three feet high, scored, cottony. Branches alternate. Fruitstalks terminal, cottony. Leaves with wing-cleft; wings egg-shaped, with strong thorns. Calyx scales spear-shaped, cottony, the rib running along the back terminating in a thorn, the lowermost bent back, the inner without thorns. Down hair-like, nearly as long as the florets. Woodw. (Flowers smelling strongly of musk in warm weather; their drooping pos Few plants are more disregarded than this, and yet its use is very considerable. If a heap of clay be thrown up, nothing would grow upon it for several years, did not the seeds of this plant, wafted by wind, fix and vegetate thereon. Under the shelter of this, other vegetables appear, and the whole soon becomes fertile. The flowers, like those of the Artichoke, bave the property of curdling milk. Sheep and swine refuse it; neither horses, cows, nor goats are fond of it. Papilio Cardui and the Thistle Ermine Moth feed upon it. Linn. (This cumbrous weed, being biennial, is readily destroyed by mowing before its flowers form seed. Sm. E.) ture distinguishes them from our other thistles. E. Bot. E.) Stem, leaves, and calyxes overspread with a cobweb kind of woolliness. Calyx globular, flatted; scales very strong, horizontal when the flower is expanded, purplish towards the end, terminating in a strong yellow thorn. Blossom tube whitish, border purple. Filaments woolly. Pollen grey, globular, set with fine points. MUSK THISTLE. Pastures, (waste ground, and fallow-fields. E.) In a calcareous soil. Road-sides in a sandy or gravelly soil. A. June-July.* (C. TUBERO'SUS. Leaves with slightly winged stalks, wing-cleft, lobed, fringed with prickles: stem unarmed, with about two stalked flowers: calyx-scales spear-shaped, pointed, rather spreading: down feathery. E.) E. Bot. 2562. Root sending down oblong perpendicular knobs. Stem two feet high, leafy, furrowed, hairy, simple, except at the top. Leaves variously cut, fringed with copious yellow prickles. Flowers on long, hairy stalks, at first rather drooping, bright purple, with a slightly downy calyx. E. Bot. Flowers resembling those of C. heterophyllus, but smaller. Linn. TUBEROUS THISTLE. C. tuberosus. Linn. Cnicus tuberosus. Willd. Sm. Discovered by A. B. Lambert, Esq., in a wood called Great Ridge, between Boyton House and Fonthill, Wilts, growing plentifully in one spot only. P. Aug. E.) (2) Leaves sessile. (C. ARVEN'SIS. Leaves wing-cleft; spinous: stem panicled: calyx eggshaped, with small spines: down feathery. E.) Kniph. 6-E. Bot. 975-Fl. Dan. 644-Col. Ecphr. i. 46-Ger. Em. 1173. 4-Park. 959. 7—H. Ox. vii. 32. 14-Pet. 21. 5-J. B. iii. a. 59. 2. The down of the seed is very long, (feathery, deciduous, not permanent as in Serratula. E. Bot. E.) Blossom pale purple, (rarely white. Root creeping, tuberous, and descending deep into the earth, very tenacious of life, and difficult to extirpate. Stems upright, three feet high, leafy, cylindrical, smooth, bearing many flowers. Leaves sessile, scarcely decurrent, alternate. Fl. Brit. We follow the arragement of Curtis, since adopted by Smith, in removing this plant from the genus Serratula; which indeed seems to have been the intention of Linnæus. CREEPING THISTLE. WAY THISTLE. (Welsh: Ysgallen gyffredin yr ár. (The down of this, as of some other species, may be advantageously used as a material in making paper. Flocks of goldfinches, (Fringilla Carduelis), the united produce of the summer months, throughout October may be observed sporting and glistening in the sunny beam, aiding the breeze of autumn in scattering the down, (the proverbially "Light as Thistle down") as they busily pick out the seeds for their favourite repast. E.) It is said to yield a very pure vegetable alkaly when burnt, (suitable either for bleaching linen or the manufacture of glass. E.) Goats eat it; neither cows, horses, sheep, nor swine are fond of it. Linn. Horses sometimes eat the young tops. St. (The |