Cirsium vulgare
Encyclopedia
Cirsium vulgare is a species of the 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
). It is also naturalised
in North America
and Australia
and is as an invasive
weed
in some areas.
or short-lived monocarpic
thistle
, forming a rosette
of leaves
and a taproot
up to 70 cm long in the first year, and a flower
ing stem 1–1.5 m tall in the second (rarely third or fourth) year. The stem is winged, with numerous longitudinal spine-tipped wings along its full length. 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). The inflorescence
is 2.5–5 cm diameter, pink-purple, with all the florets of similar form (no division into disc and ray florets). The seed
s are 5 mm long, with a downy pappus
, which assists in wind dispersal. As in other species of Cirsium (but unlike species in the related genus Carduus
), the pappus hairs are feathery with fine side hairs.
, colonising bare disturbed ground, but also persists well on heavily grazed
land as it is unpalatable to most grazing animals. The flowers are a rich nectar source used by numerous pollinating insects, including Honey bee
s, Wool-carder bees
, and many butterflies
. The seeds are eaten by Goldfinches
, Linnet
s and Greenfinches
. The seeds are dispersed by wind, mud, water, and possibly also by ant
s; 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
. Seed is also often spread by human activity such as hay
bales.
, and a noxious weed in Australia and in nine US states. Spread is only by seed, not by root fragments as in the related Creeping Thistle
C. arvense. It is best cleared from land by hoeing and deep cutting of the taproot before seeds mature; regular cultivation also prevents its establishment.
), Carduus lanceolatus L., Cirsium lanceolatum (L.) Scop.
(non Hill
), Cirsium balearicum Willk., Cirsium linkii Nyman, Cnicus lanceolatus (L.) Willd., Cirsium microcephalum sensu Lange, non Moris, Cirsium crinitum Boiss. ex DC., and Cirsium strigosum (Hoffmanns. & Link) Cout. Other English names include bull thistle,, Scots,, Scottish or Scotch thistle and common thistle.
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 in having feathered hairs to their achenes...
, native throughout most of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
(north to 66°N, locally 68°N), western Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
(east to the Yenisei Valley), and northwestern Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
(Atlas Mountains
Atlas Mountains
The Atlas Mountains is a mountain range across a northern stretch of Africa extending about through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The highest peak is Toubkal, with an elevation of in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert...
). It is also naturalised
Naturalisation (biology)
In biology, naturalisation is any process by which a non-native organism spreads into the wild and its reproduction is sufficient to maintain its population. Such populations are said to be naturalised....
in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and is as an invasive
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
weed
Weed
A weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, especially farm fields and gardens, but also lawns, parks, woods, and other areas. More specifically, the term is often used to...
in some areas.
Description
It is a tall biennialBiennial plant
A biennial plant is a flowering plant that takes two years to complete its biological lifecycle. In the first year the plant grows leaves, stems, and roots , then it enters a period of dormancy over the colder months. Usually the stem remains very short and the leaves are low to the ground, forming...
or short-lived monocarpic
Monocarpic
Monocarpic plants are those that flower, set seeds and then die. Other terms with the same meaning are hapaxanth and semelparous. The term was first used by Alphonse de Candolle....
thistle
Thistle
Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles often occur all over the plant – on surfaces such as those of the stem and flat parts of leaves. These are an adaptation that protects the...
, forming a rosette
Rosette (botany)
In botany, a rosette is a circular arrangement of leaves, with all the leaves at a single height.Though rosettes usually sit near the soil, their structure is an example of a modified stem.-Function:...
of leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
and a taproot
Taproot
A taproot is an enlarged, somewhat straight to tapering plant root that grows vertically downward. It forms a center from which other roots sprout laterally.Plants with taproots are difficult to transplant...
up to 70 cm long in the first year, and a flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
ing stem 1–1.5 m tall in the second (rarely third or fourth) year. The stem is winged, with numerous longitudinal spine-tipped wings along its full length. 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). The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is 2.5–5 cm diameter, pink-purple, with all the florets of similar form (no division into disc and ray florets). The seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s are 5 mm long, with a downy pappus
Pappus (flower structure)
The pappus is the modified calyx, the part of an individual disk, ray or ligule floret surrounding the base of the corolla, in flower heads of the plant family Asteraceae. The pappus may be composed of bristles , awns, scales, or may be absent. In some species, the pappus is too small to see...
, which assists in wind dispersal. As in other species of Cirsium (but unlike species in the related genus Carduus
Carduus
Carduus is a genus of about 90 species of thistles in the family Asteraceae, native to Europe, Asia and Africa. Carduus is Latin for a thistle....
), the pappus hairs are feathery with fine side hairs.
Ecology
Spear Thistle is often a ruderal speciesRuderal species
A ruderal species is a plant species that is first to colonize disturbed lands. The disturbance may be natural , or due to human influence – constructional , or agricultural .Ruderal species typically dominate the disturbed area...
, colonising bare disturbed ground, but also persists well on heavily grazed
Grazing
Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...
land as it is unpalatable to most grazing animals. The flowers are a rich nectar source used by numerous pollinating insects, including Honey bee
Honey bee
Honey bees are a subset of bees in the genus Apis, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis...
s, Wool-carder bees
Anthidium manicatum
Anthidium manicatum, common name European wool carder bee, is a species of bee in the family Megachilidae, the leaf-cutter bees or mason bees....
, and many butterflies
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
. The seeds are eaten by Goldfinches
European Goldfinch
The European Goldfinch or Goldfinch is a small passerine bird in the finch family.-Habitat and range:The goldfinch breeds across Europe, North Africa, and western and central Asia, in open, partially wooded lowlands. It is resident in the milder west of its range, but migrates from colder regions...
, Linnet
Linnet
The Linnet is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae.The Linnet derives its scientific name from its fondness for hemp and its English name from its liking for seeds of flax, from which linen is made.- Description :...
s and Greenfinches
European Greenfinch
The European Greenfinch, or just Greenfinch, Carduelis chloris, is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. The genus Carduelis might be split up and in this case, the greenfinches would be separated in their old genus Chloris again.This bird is widespread throughout Europe, north...
. The seeds are dispersed by wind, mud, water, and possibly also by ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
s; 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
Soil Seed Bank
The soil seed bank refers to the natural storage of seeds, often dormant, within the soil of most ecosystems. The study of soil seed banks started in 1859 when Charles Darwin observed the emergence of seedlings using soil samples from the bottom of a lake. The first scientific paper on the subject...
. Seed is also often spread by human activity such as hay
Hay
Hay is grass, legumes or other herbaceous plants that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal fodder, particularly for grazing livestock such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs...
bales.
Cirsium vulgare as a weed
Spear Thistle is designated an "injurious weed" under the UK Weeds Act 1959Weeds Act 1959
The Weeds Act of 1959 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom regarding the control of several injurious weed species throughout the UK. It received Royal Assent on 16 July 1959, and aims to prevent the spread of the Broad Leaved Dock, Common Ragwort, Creeping Thistle, Curled Dock and...
, and a noxious weed in Australia and in nine US states. Spread is only by seed, not by root fragments as in the related Creeping Thistle
Cirsium arvense
Cirsium arvense is a species of Cirsium, native throughout Europe and northern Asia, and widely introduced elsewhere. The standard English name in its native area is Creeping Thistle.-Alternate names:...
C. arvense. It is best cleared from land by hoeing and deep cutting of the taproot before seeds mature; regular cultivation also prevents its establishment.
Synonymy and other names
Synonyms include Carduus vulgaris Savi (basionymBasionym
Basionym is a term used in botany, regulated by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature...
), Carduus lanceolatus L., Cirsium lanceolatum (L.) Scop.
Giovanni Antonio Scopoli
Giovanni Antonio Scopoli was an Italian physician and naturalist.-Biography:...
(non Hill
John Hill (author)
John Hill , called because of his Swedish honours, "Sir" John Hill, was an English author and botanist. He contributed to contemporary periodicals and was awarded the title of Sir in recognition of his illustrated botanical compendium The Vegetable System.He was the son of the Rev. Theophilus Hill...
), Cirsium balearicum Willk., Cirsium linkii Nyman, Cnicus lanceolatus (L.) Willd., Cirsium microcephalum sensu Lange, non Moris, Cirsium crinitum Boiss. ex DC., and Cirsium strigosum (Hoffmanns. & Link) Cout. Other English names include bull thistle,, Scots,, Scottish or Scotch thistle and common thistle.