THISTLE, Carcluus, a genus of plants of the natural order composita3, sub-order eynarocephake, with spinous leaves, imbricated involucres, and heads of flowers, con sisting of tubular hermaphrodite florets alone, very rarely dicecious, stamens free, pappus deciduous, the receptacle having chaffy bristles. The flowers are sometimes large, gen erally purple, rarely white or yellowish. Recent botanists have divided this genus into two genera—the true thistle (carduus), in which the pappus is composed of simple hairs, and the plume thistle (otrsium or cnicus), in which the pappus is feathery.—The species of both genera are numerous, and are found in most of the temperate and cold parts of the northern hemisphere, annual, biennial, and perennial herbaceous plants of consider able size.—The MILE THISTLE (carduits marianus), a biennial, native of Britain, and other parts of Europe, attains a height of 4 to 6 ft., and is remarkable for the milky of its large waved leaves. The bractem of the involucre are subfoliaceous and recurved. The young leaves are sometimes used as a spring salad. Blanched leaves are used in winter salads. They are also used as a boiled vegetable, along with the young stalks, after these have been peeled and soaked in water to extract part of their bitterness. The root is used as salsafy. In former times, the plant was frequently cul tivated.—The creeping plume thistle (cirsium arven-se, or miens arcensis), a species about 1 to 3 ft. high, with creeping roots, pinnatifid leaves and numerous dicecious flowers, is a very troublesome weed in fields, very common in Britain, and now too common, not only in Europe, where it is indigenous, but in America and other countries to which it has found its way. Cirsium lanceolatum and C. palustre, both common British plants, are also regarded as troublesome weeds. The former has larger flowers than any of the other species common iu Britain. Cirsium ole4raceum is a native of the n. of Europe, but not of Britain, distinguished by its yellowish flowers, which are surrounded with large yellowish involucral bractete. The young leaves are used as a culinary esculent. —The BLESSED THISTLE (carduus benedictus of the pharmaeopceias, cnieus bcnedictus or cirsium benedectum of modern botanists) is a native of the Levant and of Persia, resem bling in appearance a centaurea; with yellow flowers enveloped in leaves, and abound ing in a g.ossamer-like down. The whole plant has a very bitter and disagreeable taste,
and besides a bitter extractive, contains much sulphate and muriate of potash and sul phate of lime. It is a powerful laxative-tonic medicine, and a strong decoction of it readily induces vomiting.—The COTTON THISTLE (onopordon) is a distinct genus, known by its receptacles being destitute of bristles, and coarsely and deeply honey-combed The common cotton thistle (O. acanthium), a native of Europe, and found in England, but rarely wild in Scotland, if, indeed, it is a true native of that country, is, neverthe less, very generally called by.gardeners and others the SCOTCH THISTLE. The national emblem of Scotland is not, in all probability, any one species of thistle in particular, as botanically distinguished; though the stemless thistle (cnicus aeaulis, or cirsium acaule) is in many districts of Scotland so designated. According to the common tradition, the Danes (or Norsemen?) came upon the Scots unperceived in the dead of night ; and halt ing while their spies were trying to discover the undefended points of their opponents' camp, one of the spies chanced to tread upon a thistle of this species, and the loud imprecation which the sudden pain evoked aroused the unsuspecting Scots, who at once attacked the invaders, gained a complete victory, and dubbed the plant which had been the means of their success the Scotch thistle. The cotton thistle has 'large elliptic leaves, and a broadly winged stem. The young fleshy root and the stem, while still tender, are in many places boiled and eaten. The expressed juice of the plant was for merly reckoned good for cancerous sores and cutaneous eruptions.—Plants of the genus :ileum, distinguished by its monadelphous stamens, and of the genus echinops, which has a very different manner of growth, and belongs to a very different section of the composites, are often to be seen in flower-gardens, where they are known as thistles. The name is also, generally with some addition, very often bestowed upon many plants which have little resemblance to any of these, except in their spiuous character. Cen taurus calcitrapa is commonly kno wn as the STAR. THISTLE (see CENTAIIREA).—The CAR LINE THISTLE (carlina oulgaris) is pretty common in dry hilly pastures in some parts of Britain.