Erect, 3-5 ft. high. Leaves semi-amplexicaul, oblanceolate or elliptical, up to over 8 in. long, more or less deeply pinnately lobed, spiny, white-tomentose beneath. Capitula not very numerous in clusters, 1½ in. diam.; inner invol. bracts spathulate, apiculate, ab. 18 in number, innermost connate into a tube more than half-way up. Red Sea Prov. (Erkowit); Nuba Mts. Prov. (J. Ghulfan); Darfur Prov. (J. Marra 8-10,000 ft.). =E. spinosus= _Linn._ Erect, 3-5 ft. high, white-woolly. Leaves sessile, ovate, pinnatisect, 2-8 in. long, spinose-incised; heads about 1 in. long, in clusters 3-4 in. diam. No locality given (fide Mrs. Crowfoot). =E. sp.= Leaves not seen. Heads very large on a cone-like axis, pedicellate, pedicels covered with very long hairs. Mongalla Prov. (Donka’s village, Sillitoe No. 202). 570 =Centaurea Calcitrapa= _Linn._ Star-thistle Centaurea. Scabrid branched herb, 1-2 ft. high. Leaves from simple to pinnatisect, lobes linear, denticulate. Capit. heterog. (outer fl. 1-ser. larger and neuter), solitary, lateral or terminal; invol., bracts glabrous or arachnoid ending in a spreading, yellowish spine, ¾ to 1¼ in. long with a few smaller lateral ones; fl. purple. Kordofan Prov. =C. senegalensis= _DC._ ABU SHWEIKA (N. Kordn.)—Arab. Coarse scabrid herb, 2 ft. high. Leaves oval, ovate or lanceolate, apiculate, denticulate, semi-amplexicaul. Capit. ovoid-globose, ½-⅔ in. thick, solitary, terminal; invol. much as above; fl. purple. Kordofan Prov.; Darfur Prov. (Melit & J. Marra). The flower-heads are made into a poultice to reduce swellings. =C. rhizocephala= _O._ & _H._ Erect hirsute herb, 1-2 ft. high. Leaves oval-oblong, sessile, 3-5 in. long. Capit. 1-1½ in. long, 3 to 9 together in trichotomous cymes terminating short radical shoots; invol. bracts ending in 3-5 short spines; outer fl. white, inner rose-coloured. Bahr El Ghazal Prov. (Bongo-land: Sabbi). =C. papposa= _Schultz Bip._ Leaves ovate-oblong, sessile, scabrid-glandular, 1½ in. long. sharply denticulate. Heads few. Bracts long-spine-tipped, pectinate at base. Kordofan Prov. (Takari, south of Rahad). 571 =Carthamus tinctorius= _Linn._ GURDUM or ASFAR, QORTOM (Egypt)—Arab. Erect, thistle-like herb, 2-3 ft. high. Leaves ovate-oblong, sessile, 1-3 in. long, spinulose-denticulate. Capit. ab. 1 in. thick, homog., solitary or cymose; invol. bracts foliaceous and spinescent (in wild forms); fl. orange. Khartoum, Blue Nile and Kordofan Provinces. Cultivated for the flowers which yield an orange dye, called safflower, and for the seeds which yield a clear, yellow, esculent oil. Poultry fatten on the seeds. =C. leucocaulos= _Sibth._ Glabrous, white-stemmed, prickly herb, 1-1½ ft. high. Leaves pinnatifid, 1-4 in. long, lobes ovate ending in a sharp spine. Capit. terminating the end branches; inner invol. bracts lanceolate. Red Sea Prov. (Suakin, Soturba, 22° N.L.). 572 =Dicoma tomentosa= _Cass._