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Carduus crispus

Welted thistle

Blütenstand (CC BY-SA 4.0) Ivar Leidus

Short Description

The welted thistle can grow up to two metres high.

The leaves are dark green. The upper surface is glabrous. The lower surface is white or grey-felted.

The stem grows erect, branched and is covered with spines right under the flowers.

At the end of a stem there are usually three to five short-stemmed, purple-coloured inflorescences. At first glance, the flower heads can be mistaken for a single flower. However, they consist of numerous individual purple disc florets.

The plant forms very small, nut-like fruits with a white ring of hairs at the tip. The fruits are yellow-brown, flattened and smooth.

Features

Welted thistle

Carduus crispus

  • glabrous upper surface of the leaf

  • felty lower surface of the leaf

  • Stem with spines

Similar species

Plumeless thistle

Carduus acanthoides
The leaves are deeply incised. The lower surface is almost glabrous.

Spear thistle

Cirsium vulgare
The leaves are rough on the upper surface due to fine spines. The flower heads are usually larger.

Creeping thistle

Cirsium arvense
The stem is unwinged and has no spines.
Habitus (CC0) George Chernilevsky

In the city

The welted thistle grows along field or forest margins and roadsides, on railway sites, rubble piles and in open, disturbed areas affected by nitrogen. It can thrive on fresh to moist, nutrient-rich, humusy to sandy loam or clay soils.

Fun Facts

  • The flowering period is from June to September.

  • It is a biennial plant. This means that a plant lives for two years, but flowers only once and dies after the seeds have ripened.

  • Endangerment level Germany: not endangered

  • The welted thistle is native to Central Europe.

  • The genus name "Carduus" is the Latin name for thistle.

  • The leaves, the peeled stems and roots as well as the shoots are edible.

Habitus (CC BY 4.0 ) Robert Flogaus-Faust

Sources

Blütenstand, Ivar Leidus, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carduus_crispus_-_Keila.jpg

Habitus, George Chernilevsky, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carduus_crispus_2009_G2.jpg

Habitus, Robert Flogaus-Faust, CC BY 4.0 , https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carduus_crispus_RF.jpg

Seitz, B., Ristow, M., Meißner, J., Machatzi, B. & Sukopp, H. (2018) Rote Liste und Gesamtartenliste der etablierten Farn- und Blütenpflanzen von Berlin. : Der Landesbeauftragte für Naturschutz und Landschaftspflege / Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, Klima und Verkehr (eds.) Rote Listen der gefährdeten Pflanzen, Pilze und Tiere von Berlin, URL: https://www.berlin.de/sen/uvk/natur-und-gruen/naturschutz/artenschutz/artenlisten-rote-listen/farn-und-bluetenpflanzen/ (Accessed: 26.03.2021).

Page „Krause Ringdistel“. : Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Date of last revision: 16.03.2018, 20:40 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Krause_Ringdistel&oldid=175084672 (Accessed: 13.07.2018).

Rohkostwiki (2016) Distel, krause, URL: http://www.rohkostwiki.de/wiki/Distel,_krause (Accessed: 13.07.2018).

NatureGate (n.d.) Krause Ringdistel. Carduus crispus, URL: http://www.luontoportti.com/suomi/de/kukkakasvit/krause-distel (Accessed: 13.07.2018).