Cotton Thistle - Onopordum acanthium
Favourite Photos
| image | species | author | location | uploaded | taken | select |
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Cotton Thistle - Onopordum acanthium | dylan | North Somerset | 28 Oct 2022, 10:36 a.m. | 17 Sep 2022, 3:35 p.m. | |
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Cotton Thistle - Onopordum acanthium | dylan | North Somerset | 28 Oct 2022, 10:36 a.m. | 17 Sep 2022, 3:36 p.m. |
Species Description
Widespread and scattered throughout the UK but mainly in the South. Habitat includes: Dry sunny places such as fields, roadside verges, wasteland, hedgerows, rubbish tips, market gardens, farm buildings etc. Possibly dispersed to new sites with manure or contaminated straw. Growing habit: Biennial. Height: Up to 2.5m. Flowers: July to September. Other names include: Scotch Thistle.
Stace 4:
Onopordum acanthium L. - Cotton Thistle.
Stems erect, to 2.5m; stems and leaves greyish-white with cottony hairs; stem-wings with rather weak scarcely reticulate veins; capitula 2-6cm wide (excluding flowers); outer phyllaries 1.5-2.5mm wide at widest point; corolla 15-25mm; (2n=34). Archaeophyte-denizen; naturalised or casual since at least 16th Century in fields, marginal habitats, waste and rough ground; locally frequent in South & Central England and Channel Islands, very scattered elsewhere; Europe.
Useful Links:
Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora
Kew (ours is ssp. acanthium)