Cirsium arvense
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Asterales Family: Asteraceae Genus: Cirsium Species: C. Plants are living Organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. The flowering plants or angiosperms ( Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta) are the most widespread group Magnoliopsida is the Botanical name for a class of Flowering plants By definition the class will include the family Magnoliaceae, but its The Asterales are an order of Dicotyledonous Flowering plants which include the composite family Asteraceae ( Sunflowers daisies The family Asteraceae or Compositae (known as the aster, daisy, or sunflower family) is the largest family of Flowering Cirsium is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the Asteraceae, one of several genera known popularly as Thistles They are mostly native arvense
Binomial name
Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop.

A Creeping Thistle with a "cuckoo split"

Cirsium arvense is a species of Cirsium, native throughout Europe and northern Asia, and widely introduced elsewhere. Carl Linnaeus (Latinized as Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as, May 23 new style (13 May old style 1707 who laid the foundations for Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (sometimes Latinized as Johannes Antonius Scopoli) ( June 3, 1723 &ndash May 8, 1788) was a Tyrolian Cirsium is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the Asteraceae, one of several genera known popularly as Thistles They are mostly native An introduced species (also known as naturalized species or exotic species) is an Organism that is not indigenous to a given location but The standard English name in its native area is Creeping Thistle. ^[1][2][3] A number of other names have been used in the past or in other areas (see below).

It is a tall herbaceous perennial plant, forming extensive clonal colonies from an underground root system that sends up numerous erect stems each spring, reaching 1–1. A herbaceous plant (or in botanical use a Herb) is a Plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of A perennial plant or perennial ( Latin per, "through" annus, "year" is a Plant that lives for more than "Ramet" redirects here For the commune in Alba County, Romania see Râmeţ. ROOT is an object-oriented program and library developed by CERN. 2 m tall (occasionally more); the stems often lie partly flat by summer but can stay erect if supported by other vegetation. The leaves are very spiny, lobed, up to 15–20 cm long and 2–3 cm broad (smaller on the upper part of the flower stem). In Botany, a leaf is an above-ground Plant organ specialized for Photosynthesis. The inflorescence is 10–22 mm diameter, pink-purple, with all the florets of similar form (no division into disc and ray florets). An inflorescence is a group or cluster of Flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main Branch or a complicated arrangement of branches The flowers are usually dioecious, but not invariably so, with some plants bearing hermaphrodite flowers. Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of Sexual reproduction systems found across the Plant kingdom The seeds are 4–5 mm long, with a feathery pappus which assists in wind dispersal. A seed (in some plants referred to as a kernel) is a small embryonic Plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat usually with some stored In a composite Flower, Pappus is the part of individual disk and ray flowers that surrounds the base in the same manner as the calyx does in a non-compound ^[3][4][5]

There are two varieties: ^[3]

• Cirsium arvense var. In Botanical nomenclature or biological nomenclature variety is a low-level Taxonomic rank below that of species and signifies members of different populations can arvense. Most of Europe. Leaves hairless or thinly hairy beneath.
• Cirsium arvense var. incanum (Fisch. ) Ledeb. Southern Europe. Leaves thickly hairy beneath.

Ecology

A Goldfinch feeding on Creeping Thistle seeds

The seeds are an important food for Goldfinch and Linnet, and to a lesser extent for other finches. The Goldfinch or European Goldfinch ( Carduelis carduelis) is a small Passerine Bird in the Finch family Introduction The Linnet, Carduelis cannabina, is a small Passerine Bird in the Finch family Fringillidae Finches are Passerine Birds often Seed -eating found chiefly in the northern hemisphere and Africa. ^[6] Creeping Thistle foliage is used as a food by over 20 species of Lepidoptera, including the Painted Lady butterfly and the Engrailed, a species of moth, and several species of aphids. Lepidoptera is an order of Insect that includes Moths and butterflies. The Painted Lady group of colourful butterflies comprises the Subgenus Cynthia of the genus Vanessa in the Family The Engrailed ( Ectropis crepuscularia) is a Moth of the family Geometridae. A moth is an Insect closely related to the Butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. ^[7][8][9]

Status as a weed

The species is widely considered a weed even where it is native, for example being designated an "injurious weed" in the United Kingdom under the Weeds Act 1959. WEED (1390 AM) is a Radio station broadcasting a Spanish format ^[10] It is also a serious invasive species in many additional regions where it has been introduced, usually accidentally as a contaminant in cereal crop seeds. Introduced species|Weed Invasive species is a phrase with several definitions It is cited as a noxious weed in several countries; for example Australia, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Many countries regulate this plant, or its parts (i. e. , seed) as a contaminant of other imported products such as grains for consumption or seeds for propagation. In Canada, Cirsium arvense is classified as a primary noxious weed seed in the Weed Seeds Order 2005 which applies to Canada's Seeds Regulations. ^[11]

Uses

Like other Cirsium species, the roots are edible, though rarely used, not least due to their propensity to induce flatulence in some people. Flatulence is the production of a mixture of gases in the digestive tract of Mammals that are byproducts of the digestion process The taproot is considered the most nutritious. A Plant 's taproot is a straight tapering Root that grows vertically down The leaves are also edible, though the spines make their preparation for food too tedious to be worth eating. ^[12]

Other names

Other names include Canada Thistle,^[13] California Thistle, Corn Thistle, Cursed Thistle, Field Thistle, Green Thistle, Hard Thistle, Perennial Thistle, Prickly Thistle, Small-flowered Thistle and Way Thistle. The first of these is in wide use in North America, despite being a misleading designation (it is not of Canadian origin). ^[14]

References