Cirsium
Cirsium is a genus of perennial and biennial flowering plants in the Asteraceae, one of several genera known commonly as thistles. They are more accurately known as Plume thistles. These differ from other thistle genera (Carduus, Silybum and Onopordum) in having feathered hairs to their achenes. The other genera have a pappus of simple unbranched hairs.
They are mostly native to Eurasia and northern Africa, with about 60 species from North America (although several species have been introduced outside their native ranges).
Thistles are known for their effusive flower heads, usually purple, rose or pink, also yellow or white. The radially symmetrical disc flowers are at the end of the branches and are visited by many kinds of insects, featuring a generalised pollination syndrome. They have erect stems and prickly leaves, with a characteristic enlarged base of the flower which is commonly spiny. The leaves are alternate, and some species can be slightly hairy. Extensions from the leaf base down the stem, called wings, can be lacking (Cirsium arvense), conspicuous (Cirsium vulgare), or inconspicuous. They can spread by seed, and also by rhizomes below the surface (Cirsium arvense). The seed has tufts of tiny hair, or pappus, which can carry them far by wind.
Podcasts:
Zero-Sum
by: Nine Inch Nailsthey're starting to open up the sky
they're starting to reach down through
and it feels like we're living in that split-second
of a car crash
and time is slowing down
and if we only had a little more time
then this time
is all we have
do you remember the time we
and all the times we
and should have
and were going to
i know
and i know you remember
how we could justify it all
and we knew better
in our hearts we knew better
and we told ourselves it didn't matter
and we chose to continue
and none of that matters anymore
in the hour of our twilight
and soon it will be all said and done
and we will all be back together as one
if we will continue at all
shame on us
doomed from the start
may god have mercy
on our dirty little hearts
shame on us
for all we have done
and all we ever were
just zeros and ones
and you never get away
and you never get to take the easy way
and all of this is a consequence
brought on by our own hand
if you believe in that sort of thing
and did you ever really find
when you closed your eyes
any place that was still
and at peace
and i guess i just wanted to tell you
as the lights start to fade
that you are the reason
that i am not afraid
and i guess i just wanted to mention
as the heavens will fall
we will be together soon if we
will be anything at all
shame on us
doomed from the start
may god have mercy
on our dirty little hearts
shame on us
for all we have done
and all we ever were
just zeros and ones
shame on us (shame on us)
we knew from the start
may god have mercy
on our dirty little hearts
shame on us (shame on us)
for all we have done
and all we ever were