Cirsium vulgare
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| Cirsium vulgare (Savi) Ten. |
Cirsium vulgare (Spear Thistle, Bull thistle, Plumed thistle, Roadside thistle; syn. C. lanceolatum) is a species of the genus Cirsium, native throughout Europe, Asia and northern Africa, but also present in North America as an invasive weed. It is designated an "injurious weed" under the UK Weeds Act 1959[1] and a noxious weed in nine US states[2].
It is a tall biennial thistle, forming a rosette of leaves in the first year, and a flowering stem 1-2.5 m tall in the second year. The leaves are very spiny, deeply lobed, up to 15-25 cm long (smaller on the upper part of the flower stem). 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 seeds are 5 mm long, with a downy pappus which assists in wind dispersal.
References
- [1]
- "PLANTS Profile for Cirsium vulgare (bull thistle) USDA PLANTS". USDA Plant Database. USDA (unknown). Retrieved on 2008-07-15.
- Blanchan, Neltje (2005). Wild Flowers Worth Knowing. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.
External links
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; from the article "Cirsium vulgare". Image Credit.
