Asteraceae
Cirsium

Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop.

First published in Fl. Carniol., ed. 2, 2: 126 (1771)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Temp. Eurasia, NW. Africa. It is a perennial and grows primarily in the temperate biome.

Descriptions

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Ghazanfar, S. A., Edmondson, J. R. & Hind, D. J. N. (Eds). (2019). Flora of Iraq, Volume 6: Compositae.Kew Publishing

Morphology General Habit
Perennial herb, (20–)30–120(–150) cm, with an initial long taproot producing an underground system of slender, widely creeping, whitish roots sending up numerous sterile and flowering shoots
Morphology Stem
Stems striate, angular at least below, glabrous or (especially above) floccose, branched mostly above middle, usually with slender, leafy branches; leaves not much decurrent along stem, which is thus not spinous-winged
Morphology Leaves
Lower and median cauline leaves narrowly to broadly elliptic or elliptic-oblong in outline, very variable in size but mostly 5–17 × 1.5–7 cm, entire to pinnatisect, when entire spinous-ciliate, when divided with broadly triangular strongly spinous lobes (spines to 5 mm), with margins spinous-ciliate between; median and upper leaves diminishing in size, median sometimes shortly decurrent; all leaves glabrous on both sides to sparsely floccose above and densely white-tomentose on lower surface Basal leaves occasionally somewhat congested but not rosette-forming leaves ± glabrous above and below and usually ± pinnately lobed or sinuate-pinnatifid.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Capitulum
Capitula not involucrate with leafy bracts, several to numerous, solitary or ± clustered on branches
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Involucre
Involucre hemispherical to broadly ovoid, 10–17 mm in diameter, glabrous to sparingly floccose; phyllaries 5–7–seriate, with a black terminal vitta; outer phyllaries ovate, 2–3.5 mm, with a spinous mucro 0.5–1 mm long; median phyllaries 7–10 mm, lanceolate- ovate, similarly mucronate-tipped; innermost phyllaries linear-lanceolate, 15–26 mm, they and all rows from median inwards with a ± membranous, frequently purplish undulate tip
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corollas purplish, 12–20 mm long with lobes 3–5 mm, tube long and narrow
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Achenes 2.5– 3.5(–4) mm, oblong, smooth, pale to dark brown; pappus (of mature fruit) 20–25 m, dirty white
Distribution
Practically throughout Europe, Cyprus (probably introduced), Turkey, Caucasia, Iran, Afghanistan; introduced into N America and elsewhere.
[FIQ]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of Iraq

    • Ghazanfar, S. A., Edmondson, J. R. (Eds). (2013-2019). Flora of Iraq, Volumes 5.1, 5.2 and 6.0. Kew Publishing
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images