Carduus acanthoides L. Spinny Plumeless Thistle

Carduus acanthoides L. - Spinny Plumeless Thistle

Scientific Description:

Biennial, 30−100 cm, green, glabrescent or sparsely arachnoid. Stem narrowly winged with close, triangular or lanceolate, weakly or strongly spinose lobes, branched above into a few to many-headed panicle. Cauline leaves pinnatipartite, primary segments 2−3(−5)-fid into lanceolate, spinose and spinulose margined lobes. Peduncles short, spiny-winged and often foliose almost up to capitulum. Involucre subglobose, 15−20 × 20−30 mm, sparsely arachnoid; phyllaries lax, outer and median lanceolate-linear or subulate, gradually imbricate to subequal, 1-nerved and subpatent to recurved towards spinulose or mucronate tip. Corollas zygomorphic, purple, 17−20 mm. Achenes 3−4 mm; pappus 11−13 mm.

 

subsp. acanthoides

Outer phyllaries ½ to nearly as long as median, both subulate and attenuate into 0.5−1.5 mm spinule; cauline wings with sturdy spines up to 6 mm; branches/peduncles l−2(−3) cm, spinose and often foliose up to capitula.

 

Flowering time: June−July.

Habitat: Field margins and roadsides, on clay and gravel, s.l.−1000 m.

Reference:
Davis PH (1975). Carduus acanthoides L., In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 5: 430.

Public Description:

Carduus acanthoides subsp. acanthoides, known as “spiny plumeless thistle”, “welted thistle”, and “plumeless thistle”, is native to Europe and Asia. It is a biennial herb with pink-purple flowers, and grows up to 1 meter in length. It blooms between June and July and is found in field edges, roadsides, clayey and gravel areas. The spiny plumeless thistle may infest disturbed habitats, for example overgrazed pasture.

 

References:

Anonymous (2016). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carduus_acanthoides, 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.