The cotton thistle is a large plant, up to three meters tall and about half that in width. A biennial plant, its spiny leaves are 10 to 50 cm wide, covered with white hairs that give the plant the common name cotton thistle.. They have long, stiff spines the length of the margins. The flowers are round and range in color from pink to lavender. The thistle flowers from July to September.
(February 2009) Impromptu speaking is a speech and debate individual event that involves a five- to eight-minute speech with a characteristically short preparation time of one to seven minutes.
Off the cuff. Something that is off the cuff is unplanned or done on the spur of the moment. The phrase usually relates to impromptu speech, but it can also relate to anything else that is improvised or done on short notice. The phrase usually functions adverbially, in which case it does not need to be hyphenated.