Cirsium vulgare

Cirsium vulgare
	Plant in flower, Joure, Netherlands
	Seedhead
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Cirsium
Species:	C. vulgare
Binomial name
	Cirsium vulgare; (Savi) Ten.
Synonyms
	Synonymy Ascalea lanceata Hill ; Ascalea lanceolata (L.) Hill ; Carduus divaricatus Gllib. ; Carduus firmus Steud. ; Carduus lanceolatus L. ; Carduus vulgaris Savi ; Chamaepeuce firma DC. ; Cirsium abyssinicum Sch.Bip. ex A.Rich. ; Cirsium auriculatum Camus ex Beleze ; Cirsium balearicum Willk. ; Cirsium britannicum Scop. ; Cirsium dubium Lojac. ; Cirsium firmum (C.Presl) Arcang. ; Cirsium fraternum DC. ; Cirsium lanceolatum (L.) Scop. ; Cirsium lanigerum Nägeli ; Cirsium leucanicum Lojac. ; Cirsium linkii Nyman ; Cirsium longespinosum Tod. ex Nyman ; Cirsium microcephalum Lange ; Cirsium mielichhoferi Saut. ; Cirsium misilmerense Ces., Pass. & Gibelli ; Cirsium nemorale Rchb. ; Cirsium spurium Delastre ; Cirsium strigosum (Hoffmanns. & Link) Cout. ; Cnicus firmus J.Presl & C.Presl ; Cnicus lanceolatus (L.) Willd. ; Cnicus misilmerensis Tineo ex Ces., Pass. & Gibelli ; Cnicus strigosus Hoffmanns. & Link ; Cynara lanceata Stokes ; Eriolepis lanceolata (L.) Cass. ; Lophiolepis dubia Cass. ; Cirsium atticum Sch.Bip. ex Nyman ; Cirsium balearicum (Willk.) Porta ; Cirsium crinitum Boiss. ex DC. ; Carduus nemoralis E.H.L.Krause ; Cirsium silvaticum Tausch ;

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). It is also naturalised in North America, Africa, and Australia and is an invasive weed in some areas. It is the national flower of Scotland.

The plant provides a great deal of nectar for pollinators. It was rated in the top 10 for most nectar production (nectar per unit cover per year) in a UK plants survey conducted by the AgriLand project which is supported by the UK Insect Pollinators Initiative. Marsh thistle, Cirsium palustre, was ranked in first place while this thistle was ranked in sixth place. It also was a top producer of nectar sugar in another study in Britain, ranked third with a production per floral unit of (2300 ± 400 μg).

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.