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ER Y TH R O L ^N A conspicua.
Conspicuous Erythrolccna.
Natural Order. C om p o sitíe . Adanson fam. 2. 103.
Sect. I I . Carduaceje. K u n th synops. 2. p. 354.
3) CarduacecB vera.
E R Y T H R O L M N A . Involucrum conicum; toliolis acu-
minatis, interioribus imbricatis integerrimis, exterioribus re-
flexis spinoso-dentatis. Receptaculum convexum, pilosum. I tos-
culi oranes herniaphroditi, tubulosi: limbo a lte quinquepartito :
laciniis linearibus ápice incrassatis : tubum 5-angulum basi an-
gustatum. Filamenta glanduloso-pilosa. Anthera basi bisetosse.
Stigma bifidum;laciniisapproximatis. Pappus sessilis,plumosus.
E. c o n sp icu a , V a u le erecto ramoso, foliis inferioribus laciniato-
pinnatifidis subpubescentibus supra atroviridibus nitentibus
subtus pallidis reticulato-venosis: segmentis divaricatis spinoso
dentatis undulatis; superioribus lanceolatis spmoso-den-
tatis, involucro glabro : foliolis lanceolatis acuminatis.
Biennial? Stem, in our specimen, 8 feet high, with
18 branches, clothed with a loose woolly down, furrowed
with numerous channels, more or less ot a
purple colour : branches erect, or slightly spreading,
downy. Leaves very stiff and rigid, those at the base
laciniately pinnatifid, above 2 feet long, and more than
a foot in breadth; more or less pubescent on both
sides, the upper side of a dark glossy green, underneath
paler, and reticulately veined: segments divaricately
spreading, undulate, laciniately toothed, the points and
teeth terminated with strong sharp spines, which point
in various directions ; stem-leaves sessile, or halt clasping
the stem, lanceolate, taper-pointed, very mucii
undulate, sinuately toothed, armed with strong spines,
and smaller ones intermixed, the spines pointing various
ways, as in the large leaves. Flowers terminal
and axillary, clustered at the end of the mam stem,
erect before expansion, a little nodding when expamded,
and more so when overblown. Peduncles striate,
thickly clothed with a dense woolly down, generally
producing a leaf at the base, or a little below the
flower. Involucre regularly conical, tapering to a slender
point before expansion, of a bright glossy scarlet.
lower leaflets broadest, lanceolate, widened at the base.