f t * ; ^ - [ 974 ]
(y ru t** CARDUUS paluftris.
MarJIi Thijile.
SYNGENESIA Polygaviia-txqualis.
G en. C har. Cal. fwdling, imbricated with fpinous
fcales. Recep. hairy. Down deciduous.
Spec. Char. Leaves decurrent, pinnat'ifid, toothed,
fpinous, rough. Calyx ovate, cluttered ; its fpines
minute. Down feathery.
S yn. Carduus paluttris. Linn. Sp. PI. 1151. Sm.
FI. Brit. 850. Hndf. 35a. With. 697. Hull., 1J9.
Relb. 305. Sihtb.245. Abbot. 176. Curt. Land,
fafc. 6. t. 56. Rail Syn. 194.
C ) n E of the mott frequent Thiftles in marfhy places, boggy
woods, and on wet commons, flowering in July and Auguft.
Root biennial, branched. Stem erect, very ftraight, from
3 to 6 feet in height, angular, winged as in the preceding,
but the wings are more deeply finuated or interrupted; the
branches, likewife winged, are long, fpreading, wand-like,
often purplith. Leaves dark-green, rough, deeply pinnatifid,
toothed, very fpinous. Flowers terminal, cluttered, deep
purple, though a folitary plant with white flowers often occurs
among a number of the ufual colour. Calyx ovate or nearly
globofe; its fcales fmoothifh, obovate or bluntith, tipped
with very fhort harmlefs fpines, and fumithed with a dilated
keel at their upper part. Seeds very fmooth. Down feathery,
deciduous.
This can fcarcely be confounded with any other Britifh
Carduus. Its long, wand-like branches, and the wet fitua-
tions it always prefers, make it fufficiently known. The
flowers are fmaller than thofe of C. acanthoides, and their
abrupt clofe fcales, tipped with fmall fhort harmlefs prickles,
and winged or keeled at the back, added to the feathery feed-
down, clearly diftinguifh the palujlris.