S<3« t 3»s i
C A R D U U S eriophorus.
Woolly-headed Thijlle.
S Y N G E N E S I S Polygamia-aqualis.
. G en . Char. Cal. ovate, imbricated with fpinous fcales.
Receptacle hairy.
S pec. C har. Leaves feffile, pinnatifid, every other
fegment pointing upwards. Calyx globular, woolly.
S y n . Carduus eriophorus. Linn. Sp. P L 1 1 5 3 * Hudf.
FI. An. 3 5 4 . With. Bot. Arr. 8 7 5 . Relh. Cant.
3 0 7 . Sibth. Ox. 2 4 6 .
C . tomentofus, Corona fratrumdidtus. Ran Syn. 1 9 5 .
.
1 HE thiftle here delineated is the largeft Britifh fpecies, and
generally efteemed the moft uncommon 5 we have however
obferved it in various parts of this ifland on a calcareous foil.
r i l l III1 if Mr. Jacob Rayer gathered the prefent fpecimen in Hampthire
in Auguft. laft.
The root is biennial. Stem 3 feet or more in height, ere£t,
much branched, many-angled, hairy. Leaves fpreading, alter- II nate, feffile, deeply pinnatifid with two ranks of oblong divaricated
fegments, alternately pointing upwards and downwards,
and armed with very ftrong fpines. The upper fide of the
1 111 1 111 leaves is rough with fmall rigid clofe-prefied bridles ; the under
clothed with cottony down. Flowers folitary, terminating the
branches, ere£t, very large, 6 or 8 inches in circumference.
Calyx globular, or fomewhat depreffed -, its fcales numerous,
fpreading, thickly interwoven with wool, and moftly terminating
in a linear blunt leafy appendage, ciliated and tipped
with fpines. Florets flender, purple. The radical leaves are
often two feet long, and their fegments (as Mr. Woodward obii
ferves} are much more diftin&ly ranged in two ranks than
1 1 * •
■ g
thofe on the item. The flowers are now and then found white.
111