The National Flower of Scotland

I went for a walk yesterday afternoon and found these. We have had lots of rain out here this spring, so I have high hopes that we will have a bumper crop of flowers later this summer. There are already hundreds of thistles.

One genus of thistle, the Cynara scolymus, is edible. We humans usually dip them in melted butter.

Drawing Number One

Dried Thistle Pod, January 18, 2009

I promised a drawing a day, and this is the first. These pods seem to have no actual surface, just thorns that emanate from the stem and spread outward in every direction. The long, straight thorns have smaller thorns along their surface. The long, curved thorns also have smaller thorns. The stem is covered with minuscule thorns. The straight thorns have opened, and at their base, wherever that is, they contain small seeds which fall out when you shake the pod. Which is impossible without wearing protective gloves. There's not much that could get past a field of these. Maybe I'll go shake some seed in my front yard...