Nat. ord., Compositae.

Synonyms. - Centaurea Benedicta, Cnicus Benedictus.

The Blessed Thistle.

Habitat. - Southern Europe.

Characters. - Stem about 2 feet high, branching towards the top. Leaves elliptical, rough, irregularly toothed, barbed with sharp points at their edges, of a bright green colour on their upper surface, and whitish on the under; lower leaves on footstalks, deeply sinuate; upper leaves sessile and in some measure decurrent. Flowers yellow, surrounded by an involucre of 10 bracts, of which the 5 exterior are largest; calyx oval, woolly, consisting of several imbricated scales, terminated by rigid, pinnate, spinous points.

A proving of this is referred to in the Pathogenetic Cyclopaedia.

Part employed. - The leaves. Preparation. - Tincture.