i , ' : - . [ ' 7 7 ]
C A R D U U S pratenfis.
Meadow 'T h ijile.
S Y N G E N E S I A Polygamia-eequalis.
G en. Char. Cal. ovate, imbricated with fpinous
fcales. Receptacle hairy.
S pec. C har. Leaves feffile, half embracing the
ftem, lanceolate, {lightly dentated, ciliated with
fmall unequal fpines. Stem moftly fingle-flow-
ered.
Sy n . Carduus jyatenfis. Jacq. Flo. Auftr. vol. i. t. 42.
Hud/. FI. An. 353. IVith. Bot. Arr. 877,
C. diffedus. Hud/. FI. An. ed. 1. 307.
C. heterophyllus. Relh. Cant. 306.
TVr X HIS thiftle, though found in meadows in various parts of
England, has never been well underftood. It appears not to be
defcribed by Linnaeus, nor is it in his Herbarium. The only
lpecies of his that it can poflibly be. is the difledtus, a plant he
took up from books, without having it in his Herbarium, and
which therefore we cannot certainly afcertain. Neither dare we
pofitively fay with Dr. Stokes, that this is C. heterophyllus of
Lightfoot, though we fuppofe it may be fo. Our fpecimen
was gathered near Bromley in Kent, flowering in June.
The root is perennial, creeping, with long fibres. Stem
eredf, x or 2 feet high, moftly Ample, and terminated with one
(rarely more) ered flower, its furface ftriated and cottony.
Leaves feveral at the lower part of the ftem, lanceolate, fomc
llightly waved and dentated, others entire, all ciliated with
unequal fmall fpines, and green above, cottony (not very white)
beneath. The upper leaves half embrace the ftem, and be-
come gradually fmaller and more diftant. A very fmall one
generally ftands near the flower. Scales of the calyx not very
Iharp, purplifh, clothed with a web. Corolla, ftyle and ftamina
nearly of an uniform purple.
We beg leave to recommend C. helenioides and heterophyllus
to. the examination of Britifh botanifts, as the fpecimens in the
Linnsean Herbarium appear really diftind fpecies.