Cirsium arvense

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Cirsium arvense
Thistle with cuckoo spit.jpeg
Plant Info
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Cirsium
Species: C. arvense

Binomial name
Cirsium arvense
(L.) Scop.

Cirsium arvense, also known as the California Thistle, Canada Thistle, Corn Thistle, Creeping Thistle, Cursed Thistle, Green Thistle, Hard Thistle, Perennial Thistle, Prickly Thistle, Small-flowered Thistle, and Way Thistle, is a very serious invasive species of the genus Cirsium, native throughout Europe, Asia and northern Africa. This plant is cited as a noxious weed in several countries; for example Brazil and the United States. It is designated an "injurious weed" under the UK Weeds Act 1959[1].

It is a tall herbaceous perennial plant, forming an extensive underground root system that sends up numerous erect stems each spring, reaching 1-2 m tall; the stems often lie partly flat by summer but can stay erect if supported by other vegetation. The leaves are very spiny, lobed, up to 15-20 cm long and 2-3 cm broad (smaller on the upper part of the flower stem). The inflorescence is 1-2 cm diameter, pink-purple, with all the florets of similar form (no division into disc and ray florets). The seeds are 4-5 mm long, with a downy pappus which assists in wind dispersal.

Creeping Thistle is used as a food plant by the Engrailed, a species of moth.

Several other names have been applied to the species, including Field Thistle, and the very confusing "Canada Thistle" (it is not a native of Canada, being an introduction there).

Edibility

Cirsium species, are, for the most part, edible; however, the leaves are considered bitter and therefore rendered inedible; the taproot is considered the most nutritious. In Scotland (especially Fife) they are considered a delicacy, albeit a somewhat unusual one.

External links

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