Spear thistle is a robust biennial or short-lived monocarpic perennial that can be a serious problem in grassland and waste and cultivated ground throughout the UK. The supports for pollinators and pest-eating birds could outweigh its drawbacks. The Spear Thistle has flower heads with bright pink florets (tiny flowers) and a ball of spiny bracts (leaf-like structures) that appear from July to October. On my daily walks to the local marshy stream by a large meadow, a cluster of Bull thistles has recently burst into brilliant purple-pink flower. ‘Spear thistles’ are also known as ‘bull thistles’, ‘black thistles’, ‘scotch thistles’ ‘Fuller’s thistles’, ‘swamp thistles’ and ‘common thistles’ among others. Restrictions Spear Thistle. The leaves are toothed or lobed with spines at the tips of the teeth or lobes. The feature that really distinguishes Spear Thistle is its showy purple flowers surrounded by greenish spine tipped bracts. Spear thistle, (sometimes referred to as 'scotch thistle'), is an annual (living for one year) or biennial (living two years) herb, growing to 60 to 120 cm, and occasionally to 1.5 metres. Please report them if you think you have them. As in other species of Cirsium (but unlike species in the related genus Carduus), the pappus hairs are feathery with fine side hairs. Spear thistle is often a ruderal species, colonising bare disturbed ground, but also persists well on heavily grazed land as it is unpalatable to most grazing animals. Carduus lanceolatus, the Spear Thistle, is one of our most striking and common Thistles. Marsh thistle looks somewhat like spear thistle at an initial glance, but without the large spines and leaf lobes, and usually with a thin, red, leaf margin. There is a magazine visible in pictures taken of McCloskey with his AR -- a twenty rounder from the looks of it -- but there's no proof the magazine had rounds in it. Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) is a root-creeping perennial. thistle) supports the health of joints, tendons, ... Definitions Bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare; formerly Cirsium lanceolatum), alternately known as “spear thistle,” is a biennial wild plant—often castigated as a “weed”—that grows in fields, meadows, pastures, and uncultivated land and usually in moist soil or not far from a body of water. [11], It is a tall biennial or short-lived monocarpic thistle, forming a rosette of leaves and a taproot up to 70 cm long in the first year, and a flowering stem 1–1.5 m tall in the second (rarely third or fourth) year. Spear thistles grow to be 1 to 1.5 metres (3.3 to 5 feet) in height, with flower stems at the end of the branches, and look similar to the well known Scotch thistle or cotton thistle, although they are a different species of plant and have the scientific name Onopordum acanthium. Cirsium vulgare, the spear thistle, bull thistle, or common thistle, is a species of the Asteraceae genus Cirsium, native throughout most of Europe (north to 66°N, locally 68°N), Western Asia (east to the Yenisei Valley), and northwestern Africa (Atlas Mountains). 5:209 (1835-36). Spear thistles flower during spring to autumn, but only in their second year of growth. Some species in particular are cultivated in gardens and wildflower plantings for their aesthetic value and/or to support pollinators such as butterflies. A common plant of disturbed ground like roadside verges and field edges, the Spear thistle has purple, fluffy flower heads that appear in summer. The leaves are stoutly spined, grey-green, deeply lobed; the basal leaves up to 15–25 cm long, with smaller leaves on the upper part of the flower stem; the leaf lobes are spear-shaped (from which the English name derives). Although it is intimidating in appearance and can sometimes form large infestations, this thistle is not as challenging to control as many others and is mainly a problem in hay fields and pastures. Yellow star thistle. Visit Ten Random Facts's profile on Pinterest. Spear thistles are classified as a noxious and an environmental weed in some countries, and is a particular problem in Australia, parts of the United States and the United Kingdom. Currently you have JavaScript disabled. Grassland. It produces seeds eaten by the American goldfinch, down from seed pods that is used by those birds for nesting material, and serves as a host plant for the Painted lady butterfly. The monarch butterfly and other larger-sized butterflies can feed easily from the flowers due to their large size. An owner worries about her horse eating thistle. Image number. Your efforts to remove the thistle from pastures are well worth your time, but complete eradication is difficult, especially with stressed pasture like you describe. ", "Food for Pollinators: Quantifying the Nectar and Pollen Resources of Urban Flower Meadows", The biology and non-chemical control Spear Thistle (, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cirsium_vulgare&oldid=987581482, Articles with dead external links from August 2017, Articles with permanently dead external links, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2020, Taxonbars with automatically added basionyms, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 8 November 2020, at 00:02. Towns and … Pest control. Citation: Ten., Fl. The Spear Thistle has flower heads with bright pink florets (tiny flowers) and a ball of spiny bracts (leaf-like structures) that appear from July to October. The prickles often all over the plant – on the stem and flat parts of leaves. Scientific name: Cirsium vulgare. The key to 26 invertebrate pest groups that cause serious damage to maize together with accompanying fact sheets. Spear thistle. Napolit. The upper surface of the leaf is rough and hairy. The Spear thistle has flower heads with bright pink florets (tiny flowers) and a ball of spiny bracts (leaf-like structures). Rights Royalty Free Rights Managed. Always read the herbicide label. The flowers are a rich nectar source used by numerous pollinating insects, including honey bees, wool-carder bees, and many butterflies. Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques & South African National Biodiversity Institute, African Plant Database, "Which flowers are the best source of nectar? Napolit. Spear thistle has large, deeply-lobed leaves with large spines at the margins, as well as hairy, spiny stems. Cirsium vulgare, the spear thistle, bull thistle, or common thistle, is a species of the Asteraceae genus Cirsium, native throughout most of Europe (north to 66°N, locally 68°N), Western Asia (east to the Yenisei Valley), and northwestern Africa (Atlas Mountains). Your email address will not be published. Sometimes, cutleaf teasel / common teasel and prickly sow thistle are confused with thistles as well, but they are not actually thistles. The leaves are dark green, rough and hairy on the upper surface, and lighter beneath due to a dense covering of whitish hairs. It flowers between July and September, producing sweet smelling purple flowers on top of a spiky stalk, the flowers being very attractive to bumble bees. Thistle is a group of flowering plants which have sharp prickles on around the flower and are in the Asteraceae family. Its flowers attract insects and its seeds feed birds. [14] The flowers are a rich nectar source used by numerous pollinating insects, including honey bees, wool-carder bees, and many butterflies. It flowers between July and September, producing sweet smelling purple flowers on top of a spiky stalk, the flowers being very attractive to bumble bees. There are about 60 species in North America (although many species have been naturalized outside their native ranges). Considered noxious under the BC Weed Control Act , Canada thistle is commonly found on roadsides, cultivated fields, pastures, logged forests, riverbanks, and other disturbed areas. An equine nutritionist responds about the risks. Defra, UK – Farming – Wildlife and plants. For Control of Creeping Thistle and Spear Thistle in Established Grassland Use plant protection products safely. The thistle has been an important symbol of Scottish heraldry for over 500 years. In areas where it does not form monocultures it may also be welcome as a part of a meadow landscape. 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