Irish wildflowers BSBI map

Spear Thistle, Cirsium vulgare, Feochadán colgach
Photographs: Co. Cork

Spear Thistle
Cirsium vulgare
Feochadán colgach
Family: Asteraceae

Flowering time: June-October. Biennial. Native.

Deep purple flowers in erect globular flower-heads with prickly green outer bracts. The wavy, deeply pinnate leaves end in sharp prickles and are white-cottony beneath and rough, almost-prickly above. Stout erect stems with spiny wings. Height: 70-150cm.

Very common, can be abundant on disturbed ground, grassland, roadsides

Similar: Musk Thistle, Carduus nutans. Rare, scattered distribution

Spear Thistle, Cirsium vulgare, Feochadán colgach

Spear Thistle, Cirsium vulgare, Feochadán colgach
Spear Thistle, Cirsium vulgare, Feochadán colgach

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