The Star Thistle.

Botanical name: 

Plate 47. Calcitrapa.

A wild plant on our heaths, but not very common. It is two feet high, and extremely branched; the stalks are round, hard, and whitish. The principal leaves rise from the root, and are disposed in a circular manner on the ground. They are oblong, and divided along the sides quite to the middle rib: there are some smaller on the stalk, but few. The flowers are numerous: they are red, and of the form of the flowers of thistles. They grow out of a scaly and thorny head. The seeds are winged with down. The root is oblong.

The root is used; a strong infusion of it is excellent against the gravel, and is good also in the jaundice. It opens obstructions, and works by urine.


The Family Herbal, 1812, was written by John Hill.