The persistent thistle

July 9. 

Examine a lanceolate thistle which has been pressed and laid by a year. The papers being taken off, its head springs up more than an inch and the downy seeds begin to fly off.

H. D. Thoreau, Journal, July 9, 1854

Examine a lanceolate thistle -- its head springs up more than an inch and the downy seeds begin to fly off. See September 1, 1852 ("Nothing can stay the thistle-down, but with September winds it unfailingly sets sail. The irresistible revolution of time."); September 29, 1858 ("What astronomer can calculate the orbit of my thistle-down and tell where it will deposit its precious freight at last? It may still be travelling when I am sleeping");  See lso September 4, 1859 ("Three kinds of thistles are commonly out now, — the pasture, lanceolate, and swamp"); August 3, 1856 ("Cirsium lanceolatum at Lee's Cliff, apparently some days. Its leaves are long-pointed and a much darker green than those of the pasture thistle")

July 9. See A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, July 9

A Book of the Seasons,  by Henry Thoreau

"A book, each page written in its own season,

out-of-doors, in its own locality.”

~edited, assembled and rewritten by zphx © 2009-2021