Cirsium vulgare, the spear thistle, bull thistle, or common thistle, is a species of the Asteraceae genus Cirsium, native throughout most of Europe (north to 66°N, locally 68°N), Western Asia (east to the Yenisei Valley), and northwestern Africa (Atlas Mountains). What all these species have in common are those painfully spiny leaves and large heads of purple (or more … On my daily walks to the local marshy stream by a large meadow, a cluster of Bull thistles has recently burst into brilliant purple-pink flower. 28 Feb 2017 12:00 am. Many folks can recognize the spiny thistle plants of summer field and roadside. Flowers heads appear from July to September with lilac-purple florets. The leaves are dark green, rough and hairy on the upper surface, and lighter beneath due to a dense covering of whitish hairs. It also represents one of the highest honours the country can give an individual. It's almost impossible to misidentify a thistle. It also occurs on roadsides, coastal dunes and in woodland clearings. The plant is a biennial, the stem 1 to 5 feet high, stout and strong, more or less woolly with … Common name(s): Bull thistle, spear thistle Scientific name: Cirsium vulgare Family: Sunflower or Aster family (Asteraceae) Reasons for concern: This aggressive and persistent species can quickly take over both disturbed and unattended areas, and outcompete native species, reducing plant diversity and wildlife habitat. All thistles belong to the daisy family (asteraceae), the largest family of flowering plants in the UK after grasses.The flower heads are made up of a number of individual flowers or florets giving rise to this family being called “composites”. The root is edible, and according to one source, it tastes “like burdock root only better.”While burdock stalks are delicious, I really can’t stand burdock root, and I think it tastes like bitter dirt.Thus, I’m not excited about cooking up a thistle root. It was rated in the top 10 for most nectar production (nectar per unit cover per year) in a UK plants survey conducted by the AgriLand project which is supported by the UK Insect Pollinators Initiative. 5:209 (1835-36). Its leaves are grey-green and spiny, and its tall stems are winged, spiny and cottony. Free from such pests, they are much more [2][12][13], Spear thistle is often a ruderal species, colonising bare disturbed ground, but also persists well on heavily grazed land as it is unpalatable to most grazing animals. For this reason, it has many other common names, such as 'Sticky Bobs', 'Stick-a-back' and 'Kisses' (because lovers cling to each other, too). Cirsium vulgare (bull thistle, common thistle, or spear thistle) is listed as a noxious weed in nine US states. Visit Ten Random Facts's profile on Pinterest. Some species in particular are cultivated in gardens and wildflower plantings for their aesthetic value and/or to support pollinators such as butterflies. Thistle Root. Most of these thistles have a par-ticular niche in the environment that they exploit to their advantage and at the expense of other vegetation. Although it is intimidating in appearance and can sometimes form large infestations, this thistle is not as challenging to control as many others and is mainly a problem in hay fields and pastures. There are about 60 species in North America (although many species have been naturalized outside their native ranges). Colin Varndell. It produces seeds eaten by the American goldfinch, down from seed pods that is used by those birds for nesting material, and serves as a host plant for the Painted lady butterfly. The leaves are stoutly spined, grey-green, deeply lobed; the basal leaves up to 15–25 cm long, with smaller leaves on the upper part of the flower stem; the leaf lobes are spear-shaped (from which the English name derives). It is frequent on unsown set-aside land and seems to have increased since the 1960s. Your efforts to remove the thistle from pastures are well worth your time, but complete eradication is difficult, especially with stressed pasture like you describe. Altervista Flora Italiana, Cardo asinino. Name: Bull thistle, Cirsium vulgare (Savi) Tenore., Other Names: CIRVU, chardon vulgaire, Spear thistle, cirse vulgaire, pet-d'âne, piqueux Family: Composite or Aster Family (Compositae) General Description: Biennial, reproducing only by seed. The prickles often all over the plant – on the stem and flat parts of leaves. Spear Thistle (Cirsium vulgare) Spear Thistle also has spiny winged stems but grow taller (to 2m). The plant provides a great deal of nectar for pollinators. Spear thistle, bank thistle, bird thistle, black thistle, blue thistle, boar thistle, bull thistle, bur thistle, button thistle, common bull thistle, common thistle, Fuller's thistle, green thistle, plume thistle, roadside thistle, Scotch thistle, swamp thistle. It also was a top producer of nectar sugar in another study in Britain, ranked third with a production per floral unit of (2323 ± 418 μg). The spear thistle is biennial (living for two years) and the first year’s growth can be seen from early the following spring. The seeds are dispersed by wind, mud, water, and possibly also by ants; they do not show significant long-term dor… Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques & South African National Biodiversity Institute, African Plant Database, "Which flowers are the best source of nectar? Spear thistles grow to be 1 to 1.5 metres (3.3 to 5 feet) in height, with flower stems at the end of the branches, and look similar to the well known Scotch thistle or cotton thistle, although they are a different species of plant and have the scientific name Onopordum acanthium. Image number. [16] The seeds are dispersed by wind, mud, water, and possibly also by ants; they do not show significant long-term dormancy, most germinating soon after dispersal and only a few lasting up to four years in the soil seed bank. The seeds are 5 mm long, with a downy pappus, which assists in wind dispersal. Artichoke Thistle (Cynara cardunculus) [11], It is a tall biennial or short-lived monocarpic thistle, forming a rosette of leaves and a taproot up to 70 cm long in the first year, and a flowering stem 1–1.5 m tall in the second (rarely third or fourth) year. Pis. Scientific name: Cirsium vulgare. According to O’Donovan Spear Thistle only spreads by seed. Spiny biennial, herb, 0.05-1.5(-3) m high. Thistles will resprout readily if cut down, so it’s best to dig the whole plant up by the root. As in other species of Cirsium (but unlike species in the related genus Carduus), the pappus hairs are feathery with fine side hairs. Carduus lanceolatus, the Spear Thistle, is one of our most striking and common Thistles. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. Pests, diseases and weeds - Department of Primary Industries. Spear Thistle Spear thistles are a biennial or annual thistle plant native to Europe, Asia and Northern Africa. It can form huge monocultures and is very difficult to eradicate. Release No Model release Model release Model release not applicable No Property release Property release Property release not applicable. Restrictions Bull Thistle, Spear Thistle Cirsium vulgare is Naturalized to Texas and other States, and is considered an Invasive plant in Texas. Towns and … Always read the herbicide label. Bull thistle is a widespread biennial thistle originally from Europe and Asia, but now introduced throughout North America. In its first year, it appears as a basal rosette of easily-broken, bristly, irregularly- Most posts contain affiliate links. ", "Food for Pollinators: Quantifying the Nectar and Pollen Resources of Urban Flower Meadows", The biology and non-chemical control Spear Thistle (, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cirsium_vulgare&oldid=987581482, Articles with dead external links from August 2017, Articles with permanently dead external links, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2020, Taxonbars with automatically added basionyms, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 8 November 2020, at 00:02. [23] The dried florets steeped in water are used in rural Italy for curdling goats' milk in preparation for making cheese. [13] Nitrogen-rich soils help increase its proliferation. The leaves are toothed or lobed with spines at the tips of the teeth or lobes. Spear thistles typically grow in sunny open areas, such as paddocks and fields. Email me at cris (at) tenrandomfacts (dot) com and ask for a specific topic. Spear thistle has large, deeply-lobed leaves with large spines at the margins, as well as hairy, spiny stems. The monarch butterfly and other larger-sized butterflies can feed easily from the flowers due to their large size. 5:209 (1835-36). Thistle is a group of flowering plants which have sharp prickles on around the flower and are in the Asteraceae family. THISTLE, SPEAR Botanical: Carduus lanceolatus Family: N.O. Its leaves are grey-green and spiny, and its tall stems are winged, spiny and cottony. User-friendly keys and fact sheets to pests, pollinators and invasive plants of East Africa produced under the UVIMA Project. Images and key identification characteristics of the different members of the Thistle family of British wild flowers Please report them if you think you have them. Synonymy: Carduus vulgaris Savi, Fl. Thickets of thistle crowd out forage grasses in pastures and rangelands, reducing crop yields and productivity. thistle has been identified in Oregon only since 1987, purple/Iberian starthistle since 1993. Some species in particular are cultivated in gardens and wildflower plantings for their aesthetic value and/or to support pollinators such as butterflies. [13], Spear thistle is designated an "injurious weed" under the UK Weeds Act 1959,[18] and a noxious weed in Australia[17][19][20] and in nine US states. It is best cleared from land by hoeing and deep cutting of the taproot before seeds mature; regular cultivation also prevents its establishment. A very spiny herb to 1.5 m. The stems have thin wings lined with sharp spines. 2:241 (1798); C. lanceolatus L., Sp. ‘Spear thistles’ are also known as ‘bull thistles’, ‘black thistles’,  ‘scotch thistles’  ‘Fuller’s thistles’, ‘swamp thistles’ and ‘common thistles’ among others. Authorisation Holder: Dow AgroSciences Limited, CPC2 Capital Park, … An owner worries about her horse eating thistle. Common Name: Bull thistle, (Common thistle, Spear thistle, Scotch thistle, Black thistle, Plume thistle) Scientific Name: Cirsium vulgare Classification: Plantae Phylum or Division: Magnoliophyta (flowering plants) Class: Magnoliopsida (Dicotyledons) Order: Asterales Family: Asteraceae Identification: C. vulgare is a biennial cool-season broadleaf that forms large, coarse plants with spiny leaves, large taproots, … Spear thistle stems, flowers, roots, and seeds can be eaten and the stems and leaves can be peeled and then steamed or boiled. thistle) supports the health of joints, tendons, ... 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