Bull Thistle
Cirsium vulgare
Summary 7
Cirsium vulgare (Spear Thistle) is a species of the 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 and Australia and is as an invasive weed in some areas.
Biology 8
The spear thistle is a perennial species. Seedlings appear from autumn to April and they do not begin to flower until their second year of growth (4). Flowers are produced from July to September (6), and are pollinated by long-tongued bees, hover-flies and butterflies (2). After the seeds have been produced, the flowering stems die back (4).
Sources and Credits
- (c) beautifulcataya, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/70668033@N00/3804996777
- (c) Sciadopitys from UK, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Cirsium_vulgare_Harthope.jpg
- (c) Hugo.arg, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Dagys002.JPG
- Jmeeter, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Spear_Thistle_with_Bee.jpg/460px-Spear_Thistle_with_Bee.jpg
- (c) Lionel Allorge, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Bassin_de_Coupi%C3%A8res_%C3%A0_Gif-sur-Yvette_2012_44.jpg
- (c) Bjoertvedt, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Circium_vulgare_01.jpg
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirsium_vulgare
- (c) Wildscreen, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/6688839
More Info
- iNat taxon page
- African Plants - a photo guide
- Atlas of Living Australia
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- BOLD Systems BIN search
- Calflora
- CalPhotos
- Catalogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia
- eFloras.org
- Flora Digital de Portugal
- Flora of North America (beta)
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
- Go Botany
- HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
- IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
- Jepson eFlora
- Maryland Biodiversity Project
- NatureServe Explorer 2.0
- NBN Atlas
- New Zealand Plant Conservation Network
- OregonFlora.org
- SEINet Symbiota portals
- Tropicos
- USDA PLANTS database
- VASCAN by Canadensys
- World Flora Online
- 日本のレッドデータ検索システム
- 植物和名−学名インデックス YList
