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Cirsium vulgare

Spear thistle

Habitus (CC BY-SA 2.0) Sciadopitys

Short Description

The spear thistle can grow up to 1.5 m in height.

Its leaves are lance-shaped, lobed to incised (pinnate) and spined. Small spines give the top of the leaves a rough appearance.

The upright stem is generally branched, winged and very leafy. It has numerous spines and extends deep into the soil.

At first glance, the flower head can be mistaken for the flower itself. The pseudanthium (“false flower”) consists of numerous individual light-purple ray florets and can reach a diameter of up to 4 cm.

The seeds are small nut fruits with a ring of feathery hairs.

Features

Spear thistle

Cirsium vulgare

  • spiny upper side of the leaf

  • winged stem with spine-tipped wings

Similar species

Creeping thistle

Cirsium arvense
The stem of the creeping thistle has neither wings nor spikes.

Welted thistle

Carduus crispus
The upper side of the leaf is bare.

Plumeless thistle

Carduus acanthoides
The upper side of the leaf is bare.
Blütenstand (CC BY-SA 2.0) AnemoneProjectors

In the city

Spear thistles are often found in shrubby weed communities, in verges, wasteland, near watercourses and in forest clearings.

Fun Facts

  • It is the food plant for the caterpillars of the painted lady butterfly.

  • It is a plant that thrives in bright sunlight (heliophyte), an indicator plant for fresh, mildly alkaline and mildly acidic soils and a very distinctive nitrogen indicator.

  • The spear thistle is the national flower of Scotland.

  • It flowers from June to September.

  • With their sweet scent, thistles attract a lot of butterflies and are an important food source.

  • Thistles are said to keep away bad spirits.

  • Endangerment level Germany: not endangered
  • Usage:

    Dried roots can be made into flour.

  • Roots and young shoots used to be made into soup.

Blätter (CC BY-SA 3.0) Rasbak

Sources

Habitus, Sciadopitys, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cirsium_vulgare_Harthope.jpg

Blütenstand, AnemoneProjectors, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spear_Thistle_(Cirsium_vulgare).jpg

Blätter, Rasbak, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cirsium_vulgare,_Speerdistel_plant_(1).jpg

Page „Gewöhnliche Kratzdistel“. : Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Date of last revision: 15.06.2016, 15:47 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gew%C3%B6hnliche_Kratzdistel&oldid=155325657 (Accessed: 02.08.2016).

Fitter, R., Fitter, A. & Blamey, M. (1986) Pareys Blumenbuch. Wildblühende Pflanzen Deutschlands und Nordwesteuropas, London: Verlag Collins Publishers.

Fleischhauer, S. G., Guthmann, J. & Spiegelberger, R. (2007) Essbare Wildpflanzen. 200 Arten bestimmen und verwenden, Baden und München: AT Verlag.

Lippert, W. & Podlech, D. (1993) GU Naturführer. Blumen: die wichtigen Blütenpflanzen Mitteleuropas erkennen und bestimmen, München: Gräfe und Unzer Verlag.

Schauer, T., Caspari, C. & Caspari, S. (2015) Der illustrierte BLV-Pflanzenführer für unterwegs. 1150 Blumen, Gräser, Bäume und Sträucher, München: BLV.

Scherf, Gertrud (2006): Wildpflanzen neu entdecken, München: BLV Buchverlag

Bundesamt für Naturschutz (n.d.) Artensteckbriefe, URL: http://floraweb.de/pflanzenarten/artenhome.xsql?suchnr=4789& (Accessed: 02.08.2016).