Thistle
Encyclopedia
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s characterised by 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....
with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae
Asteraceae
The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...
. Prickles often occur all over the plant – on surfaces such as those of the stem and flat parts of leaves. These are an adaptation
Adaptation
An adaptation in biology is a trait with a current functional role in the life history of an organism that is maintained and evolved by means of natural selection. An adaptation refers to both the current state of being adapted and to the dynamic evolutionary process that leads to the adaptation....
that protects the plant against herbivorous animals, discouraging them from feeding on the plant. Typically, an involucre
Involucre
Involucre may refer to* involucral bract, a bract, bract pair, or whorl of bracts surrounding a flower or inflorescence* a term sometimes misused for the cupule surrounding developing nuts in the Fagaceae...
with a clasping shape of a cup or urn subtends each of a thistle's flowerheads.
The term thistle is sometimes taken to mean exactly those plants in the tribe
Tribe (biology)
In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes.Some examples include the tribes: Canini, Acalypheae, Hominini, Bombini, and Antidesmeae.-See also:* Biological classification* Rank...
Cynareae
Cynareae
The Cynareae are a tribe of flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae. Most of them are commonly known as thistles; four of the best known genera are Carduus, Cynara , Cirsium, and Onopordum....
(synonym: Cardueae), especially the genera 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....
, Cirsium
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...
, and Onopordum
Onopordum
Onopordum L. is a genus of about 40 species of thistles belonging to the family Asteraceae, native to Europe , northern Africa, the Canary Islands, the Caucasus, and southwest and central Asia...
. However, plants outside this tribe are sometimes called thistles, and if this is done thistles would form a polyphyletic
Polyphyly
A polyphyletic group is one whose members' last common ancestor is not a member of the group.For example, the group consisting of warm-blooded animals is polyphyletic, because it contains both mammals and birds, but the most recent common ancestor of mammals and birds was cold-blooded...
group.
Thistle is the floral emblem
Floral emblem
In a number of countries, plants have been chosen as symbols to represent specific geographic areas. Some countries have a country-wide floral emblem; others in addition have symbols representing subdivisions. Different processes have been used to adopt these symbols - some are conferred by...
of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Taxonomy
Genera in the Asteraceae with the word thistle often used in their common names include:- Arctium – BurdockBurdockBurdock is any of a group of biennial thistles in the genus Arctium, family Asteraceae. Native to the Old World, several species have been widely introduced worldwide....
- CarduusCarduusCarduus 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....
– Musk Thistle and others - CarlinaCarlinaCarlina is a genus of about 30 species of thistles in the family Asteraceae, native to Europe, north Africa and Asia. The highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region, and only one species Carlina (carline thistle) is a genus of about 30 species of thistles in the family Asteraceae,...
– Carline Thistle - CentaureaCentaureaCentaurea is a genus of between 350 and 600 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are found only north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere; the Middle East and surrounding regions are particularly species-rich...
– Star Thistle - CicerbitaCicerbitaCicerbita is a genus of plants in the Asteraceae family.- Description :Cicerbita are mostly quite strong, perennial herbaceous plants. Their leaves are lyre-shaped or toothed pinnate with a terminal lobe which is clearly larger than the side lobes. Some species have only one pair of rather small...
– Sow Thistle - CirsiumCirsiumCirsium 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...
– Common Thistle, Field Thistle and others - CnicusCnicusCnicus benedictus , was the sole species in the genus Cnicus, but has been reclassified as Centaurea benedicta...
– Blessed Thistle - CynaraCynaraCynara is a genus of about 10 species of thistle-like perennial plants in the family Asteraceae, originally from the Mediterranean region, northwestern Africa, and the Canary Islands....
– ArtichokeArtichoke-Plants:* Globe artichoke, a partially edible perennial thistle originating in southern Europe around the Mediterranean* Jerusalem artichoke, a species of sunflower with an edible tuber...
s, CardoonCardoonThe cardoon , also called the artichoke thistle, cardone, cardoni, carduni or cardi, is a thistle-like plant in the aster family Asteraceae. It is the naturally occurring form of the same species as the globe artichoke, and has many cultivated varieties... - EchinopsEchinopsEchinops is a genus of about 120 species of thistles in the daisy family Asteraceae, commonly known as globe thistles. They are native to Europe east to central Asia and south to the mountains of tropical Africa.Species include:...
– Globethistle - NotobasisNotobasisNotobasis syriaca , syn. Cirsium syriacum, Cnicus syriacus), the sole species in the genus Notobasis, is a thistle-like plant in the family Asteraceae, native to the Mediterranean region and the Middle East, from Madeira, the Canary Islands, Morocco and Portugal east to Egypt, Iran and...
– Syrian thistle - OnopordumOnopordumOnopordum L. is a genus of about 40 species of thistles belonging to the family Asteraceae, native to Europe , northern Africa, the Canary Islands, the Caucasus, and southwest and central Asia...
– Cotton ThistleCotton thistleOnopordum acanthium , is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to Europe and Western Asia from the Iberian Peninsula east to Kazakhstan, and north to central Scandinavia, and widely naturalised elsewhere...
, also known as Scots or Scotch Thistle - ScolymusScolymusScolymus is a genus of three species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to the Mediterranean region and western Europe north to northwestern France....
– Golden Thistle or Oyster Thistle - Silybum – Milk ThistleMilk thistleThe milk thistle is a thistle of the genus Silybum Adans., a flowering plant of the daisy family . They are native to the Mediterranean regions of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East...
- SonchusSonchusSonchus is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae. Most of the species are annual herbs, a few are perennial, and some are even woody...
– Sow Thistle
Plants in families other than Asteraceae which are sometimes called thistle include:
- SalsolaSalsolaSalsola is a genus of the subfamily Salsoloideae in the family Amaranthaceae. A common name of various members of this genus is saltwort, for its salt tolerance.-Description:...
– Saltwort, Tumbleweed, or Russian Thistle (family ChenopodiaceaeChenopodiaceaeChenopodiaceae were a family of flowering plants, also called the Goosefoot Family. They are now included within family Amaranthaceae. The vast majority of Chenopods are weeds, and many are salt and drought tolerant. A few food crops also belong to the family: spinach, beets, chard, quinoa, and...
)
Heraldry
In the language of flowersLanguage of flowers
The language of flowers, sometimes called floriography, was a Victorian-era means of communication in which various flowers and floral arrangements were used to send coded messages, allowing individuals to express feelings which otherwise could not be spoken...
, the thistle (like the burr
Burr (fruit)
A bur is a seed or dry fruit in which the seeds bear hooks or teeth which attach themselves to fur or clothing of passing animals or people. The hooks or teeth can be irritants and very hard to get off of clothing, such as wool or cotton...
) is an ancient Celtic symbol of nobility of character as well as of birth, for the wounding or provocation of a thistle yields punishment.
The thistle has been the national emblem of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
since the reign of Alexander III
Alexander III of Scotland
Alexander III was King of Scots from 1249 to his death.-Life:...
(1249–1286) and was used on silver coin
Silver coin
Silver coins are possibly the oldest mass produced form of coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of the Greeks. Their silver drachmas were popular trade coins....
s issued by James III
James III of Scotland
James III was King of Scots from 1460 to 1488. James was an unpopular and ineffective monarch owing to an unwillingness to administer justice fairly, a policy of pursuing alliance with the Kingdom of England, and a disastrous relationship with nearly all his extended family.His reputation as the...
in 1470. It is the symbol of the Order of the Thistle
Order of the Thistle
The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the Order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland who asserted that he was reviving an earlier Order...
, a high chivalric order
Chivalric order
Chivalric orders are societies and fellowships of knights that have been created by European monarchs in imitation of the military orders of the Crusades...
of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It is found in many Scottish symbols and as the name of several Scottish football
Football in Scotland
Association football is the national sport in Scotland and highly popular throughout the country. There is a long tradition of "football" games in Orkney, Lewis and southern Scotland, especially the Scottish Borders, although many of these include carrying the ball and passing by hand, and despite...
clubs. The thistle, crowned with the Scottish crown, is the symbol of seven of the eight Scottish Police Forces (the exception being the Northern Constabulary
Northern Constabulary
The Northern Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for Northern Scotland, covering the Highland council area along with the Western Isles, the Orkney Isles and the Shetland Isles, which comprise most of the Highlands and Islands area...
). The thistle is also the emblem of Encyclopædia Britannica
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
, which originated in Edinburgh, Scotland. Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
features the thistle in its crest.
Origin as a symbol of Scotland
According to a legendLegend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
, an invading Norse
Norsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
army was attempting to sneak up at night upon a Scottish army's encampment. During this operation one barefoot Norseman had the misfortune to step upon a thistle, causing him to cry out in pain, thus alerting Scots to the presence of the Norse invaders. Some sources suggest the specific occasion was the Battle of Largs
Battle of Largs
The Battle of Largs was an engagement fought between the armies of Norway and Scotland near the present-day town of Largs in North Ayrshire on the Firth of Clyde in Scotland on 2 October 1263. It was the most important military engagement of the Scottish-Norwegian War. The Norwegian forces were...
, which marked the beginning of the departure of King
King
- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...
Haakon IV (Haakon the Elder) of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
who, having control of the Northern Isles
Northern Isles
The Northern Isles is a chain of islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The climate is cool and temperate and much influenced by the surrounding seas. There are two main island groups: Shetland and Orkney...
and Hebrides
Hebrides
The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...
, had harried the coast of the Kingdom of Scotland
Kingdom of Scotland
The Kingdom of Scotland was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England...
for some years. Which species of thistle is referred to in the original legend is disputed. Popular modern usage favours Cotton Thistle Onopordum acanthium, perhaps because of its more imposing appearance, though it is unlikely to have occurred in Scotland in mediaeval times; the Spear Thistle Cirsium vulgare
Cirsium vulgare
Cirsium vulgare is a species of the genus Cirsium, native throughout most of Europe , western Asia , and northwestern Africa...
, an abundant native species in Scotland, is a more likely candidate. Other species, including Dwarf Thistle Cirsium acaule
Cirsium acaule
Cirsium acaule or acaulon has the English name Dwarf Thistle. It can be found in various parts of England, and France to Denmark. It is found on short, calcerous grasslands.-Description:...
, Musk Thistle Carduus nutans, and Melancholy Thistle Cirsium heterophyllum
Cirsium heterophyllum
Cirsium heterophyllum, also known as Melancholy Thistle, is an erect spineless herb. It is found in England, Wales and Scotland but not in the south of these countries. In Ireland it is very rare, and Denmark it is only locally found. It grows in upland meadows, grasslands, roads and open...
have also been suggested.
Place names
Carduus is the Latin term for a thistle (hence cardoonCardoon
The cardoon , also called the artichoke thistle, cardone, cardoni, carduni or cardi, is a thistle-like plant in the aster family Asteraceae. It is the naturally occurring form of the same species as the globe artichoke, and has many cultivated varieties...
, chardon in French), and Cardonnacum is the Latin word for a place with thistles. This is believed to be the origin of name of the Burgundy village of Chardonnay, Saône-et-Loire
Chardonnay, Saône-et-Loire
Chardonnay is the commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.The name is a derivative of Cardonnacum, a Latin term to denote the land of Cardus, the owner of the land surrounding this village during the end of the Roman period. It is also the definition...
, which in turn is thought to be the home of the famous Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...
grape variety.
Ecology
Bugle (plant)
Ajuga , also known as Bugleweed, Ground pine or Carpet bugle, is a genus of about 40–50 species of annual and perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the mint family Lamiaceae, with most species native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, but also two species in southeastern Australia...
and bramble
Bramble
Brambles are thorny plants of the genus Rubus, in the rose family . Bramble fruit is the fruit of any such plant, including the blackberry and raspberry. The word comes from Germanic *bram-bezi, whence also German Brombeere , Dutch Braam and French framboise...
s flowers, are favourite nectar sources of the Pearl-bordered Fritillary
Pearl-bordered Fritillary
The Pearl-bordered Fritillary is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family.It is orange with black spots on the upperside of its wing and has a wingspan of 38–46 mm. On the underside of the wings there is a row of silver pearly markings along the edge, which give the species its name...
, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary
The Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary , called the Silver-bordered Fritillary in North America, is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family...
, High Brown Fritillary
High Brown Fritillary
The High Brown Fritillary is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family, native from Europe across mainland Asia to Japan.The adults fly in July/August and lay eggs near to the larval food plants which are species of violets,...
, and Dark Green Fritillary
Dark Green Fritillary
The Dark Green Fritillary is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family.The insect has a wide range in the Palearctic ecozone - Europe, Morocco, Iran , Siberia, Central Asia, China, Korea and Japan.-Subspecies:...
butterflies.
Thistles (and thistle-seed feeders) also attract the North American goldfinch.
Some thistles (for example Cirsium vulgare
Cirsium vulgare
Cirsium vulgare is a species of the genus Cirsium, native throughout most of Europe , western Asia , and northwestern Africa...
, native to Eurasia), have been widely introduced outside their native range. Control measures include Trichosirocalus weevil
Weevil
A weevil is any beetle from the Curculionoidea superfamily. They are usually small, less than , and herbivorous. There are over 60,000 species in several families, mostly in the family Curculionidae...
s, but a problem with this approach, at least in North America, is that the introduced weevils may affect native thistles at least as much as the desired targets.
Literary references
Hugh MacDiarmidHugh MacDiarmid
Hugh MacDiarmid is the pen name of Christopher Murray Grieve , a significant Scottish poet of the 20th century. He was instrumental in creating a Scottish version of modernism and was a leading light in the Scottish Renaissance of the 20th century...
's poem A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle
A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle
A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle is a long poem by Hugh MacDiarmid written in Scots and published in 1926. It is composed as a form of monologue with influences from stream of consciousness genres of writing...
is an extended meditation on themes which are in part derived from the position of the plant in secular Scottish iconography
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
.
Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case, Garth Nix
Garth Nix
Garth Nix is an Australian author of young adult fantasy novels, most notably the Old Kingdom series, The Seventh Tower series, and The Keys to the Kingdom series. He has frequently been asked if his name is a pseudonym, to which he has responded, "I guess people ask me because it sounds like the...
's novella in Across the Wall: A Tale of the Abhorsen and Other Stories
Across the Wall: A Tale of the Abhorsen and Other Stories
Across the Wall: A Tale of the Abhorsen and Other Stories is a collection of short stories by Garth Nix, which return to the setting of his popular Old Kingdom series. A hardback edition was released in the UK on November 6, 2006...
, involves a rare Free Magic creature, a Hrule, being defeated by a thistle.
The thistle also features in the song The Thistle o' Scotland which uses the plant as a humorous metaphor for the prickly determinations of the Scots: Wha daur meddle wi' me! which is the Scots translation of the motto, Nemo me impune lacessit
Nemo me impune lacessit
Nemo me impune lacessit is the Latin motto of the Order of the Thistle and of three Scottish regiments of the British Army. The motto also appears, in conjunction with the collar of the Order of the Thistle, in later versions of the Royal coat of arms of the Kingdom of Scotland and subsequently in...
.
They Burn the Thistles
They Burn the Thistles
They Burn the Thistles - Ince Memed II is a 1969 novel by Yaşar Kemal. It was Kemal's second novel in his İnce Memed tetralogy.The first Ince Memed novel won the Varlik prize for that year and earned Kemal a national reputation...
is the second part of the İnce Memed tetralogy by one of Turkey's leading writers, Yaşar Kemal
Yasar Kemal
Yaşar Kemal, is a Turkish writer. He is one of Turkey's leading writers. He has long been a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, on the strength of Memed, My Hawk....
.
The poem Thistles by Ted Hughes
Ted Hughes
Edward James Hughes OM , more commonly known as Ted Hughes, was an English poet and children's writer. Critics routinely rank him as one of the best poets of his generation. Hughes was British Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.Hughes was married to American poet Sylvia Plath, from 1956 until...
The thistle is Eeyore
Eeyore
Eeyore is a character in the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne. He is generally characterized as a pessimistic, gloomy, depressed, anhedonic, old grey stuffed donkey who is a friend of the title character, Winnie-the-Pooh....
's favourite food in Winnie the Pooh.
There are references to thistles in the Tinker Bell fairy tale series. In the 2008 Tinker Bell (film)
Tinker Bell (film)
Tinker Bell is a 2008 computer animated film based on the Disney Fairies franchise produced by DisneyToon Studios. It revolves around Tinker Bell, a fairy character created by J. M. Barrie in his play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, and featured in the 1953 Disney animated film, Peter...
the thistles are "sprinting thistles". They tend to cause a lot of mess and damage in their path.
Medical uses
Maud GrieveMaud Grieve
Sophia Emma Magdalene Grieve was the Principal and Founder of The Whins Medicinal and Commercial Herb School and Farm at Chalfont St. Peter in Buckinghamshire, England. Maud Grieve was a Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society with an encyclopedic knowledge of medicinal plants...
recorded that Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
and medieval writers had thought it could return hair to bald heads and that in the early modern period
Early modern period
In history, the early modern period of modern history follows the late Middle Ages. Although the chronological limits of the period are open to debate, the timeframe spans the period after the late portion of the Middle Ages through the beginning of the Age of Revolutions...
it had been believed to be a remedy for headaches, plague, canker, sores, vertigo, and jaundice.
External links
}-
- “Thistle-Down” (a poem) in Flint and Feather by E. Pauline Johnson (1912)
}}