Cirsium vulgare

From Free net encyclopedia

{{Taxobox | color = lightgreen | name = Cirsium vulgare | image = Cirsiumlanceolatum.jpg | image_width = 240px | regnum = Plantae | divisio = Magnoliophyta | classis = Magnoliopsida | ordo = Asterales | familia = Asteraceae | genus = Cirsium | species = C. vulgare | binomial = Cirsium vulgare | binomial_authority = (Savi) Ten. }}

Cirsium vulgare (Spear Thistle; syn. C. lanceolatum) is a species of the genus Cirsium, native throughout Europe, Asia and northern Africa.

It is a tall biennial plant, forming a rosette of leaves in the first year, and a flowering stem 1-2.5 m tall in the second year. The leaves are very spiny, deeply lobed, up to 15-25 cm long (smaller on the upper part of the flower stem). The inflorescence is 2.5-5 cm diameter, pink-purple, with all the florets of similar form (no division into disc and ray florets). The seeds are 5 mm long, with a downy pappus which assists in wind dispersal.Template:Asteraceae-stub

de:Gewöhnliche Kratzdistel fr:Cirse commun nl:Speerdistel sv:Vägtistel