CARDUUS L.PLUMELESS THISTLE

CARDUUS L. - PLUMELESS THISTLE

Scientific Description:

Annual, biennial or perennial herbs; stems spiny-winged. Leaves lobed to 2-pinnatisect, spiny-margined, hairy to glabrous, never spinulose-strigose on upper leaf surface. Capitula apparently homogamous, solitary on long peduncles to crowded and sessile. Involucre in annual species usually deciduous in fruit; phyllaries pluriseriate, imbricate, adpressed, patent or deflexed, spine-tipped or ± sharply mucronate, margins entire, scabrous or ciliolate. Receptacle long-hairy. Corollas actinomorphic or zygomorphic, deeply 5-fid, purple, pink or white. Filaments free, anthers tailed. Achenes ovate-oblong, ± compressed, glabrous, collared and umbonate at apex, hilum sub-basal; pappus pluriseriate, hairs scabrous or barbellate (none thickened at tip) connate at base into a deciduous ring, without a minute inner pappus.

Reference:
Davis PH (1975). Carduus L., In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 5: 420.

Public Description:

Carduus is a genus of annual, biennial or perennial herbs, known as “plumeless thistles”, is distributed in Eurasia and Africa. There are approximately 130 species in the world and 20 species (32 taxa) in Türkiye. The genus name “carduus” is from the Latin for "a kind of thistle" or "thistlelike plant". This genus is noted for its disproportionately high number of noxious weeds compared to other flowering plant genera. Some species of plumeless thistles are considered to be invasive plants that are notorious for example in Australia and the United States. Species such as “spiny plumeless thistle (Carduus acanthoides L.)”, “musk thistle (Carduus nutans L.)” and “Italian plumeless thistle (Carduus pycnocephalus L.)” may infest disturbed habitats, for example overgrazed pasture. The musk thistle produce compounds that inhibit growth and development of other plants. This genus is usually considered only a minor cause of allergic reactions and the roots of some species may be toxic.

References:

Anonymous 1 (2016). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carduus, Accessed date: 06.01.2016.

Anonymous 2 (2016). http://www.theplantlist.org/1.1/browse/A/Compositae/Carduus/, Accessed date: 06.01.2016.

Arabacı T (2012). Carduus L. In: Güner, A., Aslan, S., Ekim, T., Vural, M. & Babaç, M.T. (eds.), Türkiye Bitkileri Listesi (Damarlı Bitkiler). Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi ve Flora Araştırmaları Derneği Yayını. İstanbul, pp. 122–126.