Daisy: Thistle Family:-

"Thistles are notoriously spiny, sometimes estoundingly so, always on the more or less wavy leaves, usually also on the sepal-like bracts. Flower-heads unrayed, brush-like, with all florets tubular and deeply divided, of some shade of purple, occasionally white. The difference between Thistles of the genera Carduus (Seaside Thistle, Musk Thistle and Welted Thistle) and Cirsium (Wooly Thistle, Spear Thistle, Marsh Thistle, Creeping Thistle, Dwarf Thistle, Melancholy Thistle, Meadow Thistle and Tuberous Thistle) is that the former has its thistledown (pappus) composed of rough unbranched hairs, the latter a pappus of branched feathery hairs. Nearly all the species rather rarely hybridise with each other." from Collins Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers by David McClintock and R.S.R. Fitter assisted by Francis Rose - ISBN 0 00 219363 9 - Eleventh Impression 1978

Daisy: Thistle Family plant table with its Common Name - Botanical Name. Flowering Months Range. Habitat with link to that Wild Flower Habitat Gallery:-

Common Name

Botanical Name

Flowering Months

Habitat

Burdock

(Lesser Burdock)

Arctium minus

July-September

A monocarpic perennial of woodlands, scrub, hedgerows, roadsides, railway banks, rough pastures, sand dunes and waste ground. It is autogamous, but outbreeding can produce fertile variants which, by constant inbreeding, produce a great variety of almost pure lines. 0-390 m (near Nenthead, Cumberland).

Flower from Cuxton in Kent

Flowers from Burham in Kent

Foliage

Form

Carline Thistle

Carlina vulgaris

July onwards

A monocarpic perennial herb, typically occurring in well-grazed grassland on dry, infertile calcareous or base-rich soils, but also in more open habitats, including dry rock ledges, screes, quarry floors, coastal cliffs and sand dunes. 0-455 m (Haweswater, Westmorland).

Flower from Corby on 30 July. Photo from BritishFlora

Flowers from Corby on 30 July. Photo from BritishFlora

Foliage from Otford in Kent on 2 September

Form from Portland Bill on 11 August

Chicory

Cichorium intybus

June onwards

A perennial herb of roadsides, field margins and rough grassland on a wide range of soils. Lowland.

Flower from Strood in Kent in September

Flowers

Foliage from Strood

Form from Strood

Cornflower

Centaurea cyanus

June-August

This formerly occurred as an annual weed of arable habitats. Since 1986 it has been recorded in very few arable fields, but it is now frequent in waste places, on roadsides and on rubbish tips as a casual arising from gardens and wild-flower seed mixtures. 0-350 m (Blackwell, Derbys.).

Flower

Flower

Foliage

Form

Creeping Thistle

Cirsium arvense

June onwards

A perennial herb of over-grazed pastures, hay meadows and rough grassy places, roadsides, arable fields and other cultivated land, and in urban habitats and waste ground. Plants regenerate freely from rhizome fragments which are broken up by ploughing or other disturbance. 0-700 m (Breadalbanes, Mid Perth), and at 845 m on Great Dun Fell (Westmorland).

Flower with Capsid-type nymph bug

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Dwarf Thistle

Cirsium acaule

July onwards

A rosette-forming perennial herb of short swards on base-rich soils, particularly on chalk and limestone. The northerly and westerly limits appear to be determined by summer warmth and in areas such as the Yorkshire Wolds and Derbyshire it is almost wholly confined to S.W.-facing slopes. It benefits from the sward being grazed to less than 10-15 cm, or frequent mowing, but is destroyed by heavy trampling. Generally lowland, but reaching 425 m at Trefil (Mons.).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

French Hardhead

(Brown Knapweed)

Centaurea jacea

June onwards

Grassland (widespread but scarce in grassy places; sometimes a casual)

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Greater Burdock

Arctium lappa

July-September

A monocarpic perennial herb of streamsides and river banks, roadside verges, tracks and waysides, field-borders, waste land and other disturbed places. Lowland.

Flowers in Stratford. Photo from BritishFlora

Seed in Stratford. Photo from BritishFlora

Foliage in Stratford. Photo from BritishFlora

Form in Stratford. Photo from BritishFlora

Greater Knapweed

Centaurea scabiosa

July onwards

A tufted, winter-green, perennial herb of dry, usually calcareous soils, found in grassland, scrub and woodland edges, on cliffs, roadsides, railway banks, quarries and waste ground. 0-320 m (Matlock, Derbys.).

Flower on 23 July. Photo from BritishFlora

Flowers on 23 July. Photo from BritishFlora

Foliage on 23 July. Photo from BritishFlora

Form on 23 July. Photo from BritishFlora

Hardhead

(Common Knapweed)

Centaurea nigra

June onwards

A perennial herb of meadows and pastures, sea-cliffs, roadsides, railway banks, scrub, woodland edges, field borders and waste ground, on a wide range of soils. 0-580 m (Cadair Idris, Merioneth) and exceptionally at 845 m on Great Dun Fell (Westmorland).

Flower on 19 June. Photo from BritishFlora

Flowers on 20 June. Photo P1040552 from BritishFlora

Foliage on 19 June. Photo from BritishFlora

Form

Marsh Thistle

Cirsium palustre

June onwards

A monocarpic perennial herb of mires, fens, marshes, damp grassland, rush-pastures, wet woodland, montane springs and flushes, and tall-herb vegetation on mountain ledges. It reproduces by seed, which may persist for many years, as, for example, during the dark phase of a coppice cycle. 0-760 m (Cross Fell, Cumberland), and 845 m on Great Dun Fell (Westmorland).

Flower from Strood in Kent on 20 June

Flowers

Foliage

Form from Strood on 20 June

Meadow Thistle

Cirsium dissectum

June-August

A shortly stoloniferous perennial herb of fens, fen-meadows, flood-pastures, bog margins and poorly-drained meadows on acid to neutral, usually peaty, soils. It often grows in sites subject to marked vertical or lateral movement of water.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form from Cliffs of Moher in County Clare on 15 June

Melancholy Thistle

Cirsium heterophyllum

July-August

A perennial herb of stream banks, hay meadows, damp roadside verges and moist woodland margins. Mostly upland, reaching 760 m in the Breadalbanes (Mid Perth) and possibly to c. 975 m elsewhere in Scotland.

Flower from Glen Carron on 28 June

Flowers from Glen Carron on 28 June

Foliage from Glen Carron on 28 June

Form from Glen Carron on 28 June

Milk Thistle

Silybum marianum

June-August

An annual or biennial, found in rough pasture, on grassy banks, in hedgerows and on waste ground. It is locally well-established and persistent, especially in coastal habitats in S. England, but is also a widespread casual. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form from Dungeness in Kent on 13 May

Musk Thistle

Carduus nutans

June onwards

This biennial, or sometimes perennial, herb is mainly found on chalk, limestone or lime-enriched soils, but also occurs on sandy or shingly ground. It is found in rough, often overgrazed or recently established pastures, on roadsides and in disturbed places. Generally lowland, but reaching c. 530 m at High Cup Nick (Westmorland).

Flower from Penard Gower on 11 July

Flowers from Folkestone on 4 August

Foliage

Form from Penard Gower on 11 July

Nipplewort

Lapsana communis

June onwards

An annual to perennial herb, typically occurring in disturbed and shaded places, and thriving over a wide range of soil acidity and moisture. Habitats include open woodland, scrub, hedgerows, waste and cultivated ground, railway banks, roadsides and old walls. 0-440 m (Clun Forest, Salop).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Purple Hawkweed

(Alpine Saw-wort)

Saussurea alpina

August-September

A perennial herb of damp, base-rich cliffs, screes and other open ground, occasionally found in flushed areas and sometimes washed down mountain streams to become established on rocky stream banks and riverside shingle. It reproduces by seed, and spreads vegetatively by new rosettes arising from stolons. From near sea level in Caithness to 1170 m on Ben Lawers (Mid Perth).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Rough Star-Thistle

Centaurea aspera

June onwards

A perennial herb which is naturalised on sand dunes and in sandy fields in the Channel Islands. Elsewhere, it occurs as a casual on light soils in waste places near the sea. Lowland.

Saint Barnaby's Thistle

(Yellow Star-thistle)

Centaurea solstitialis

July-September

An annual or, rarely, biennial herb introduced with grain, bird-seed, lucerne or sainfoin seed, or wool and found most frequently in arable fields and on waste ground. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Saw-wort

Serratula tinctoria

July-September

A perennial herb of calcareous grassland, hay and fen-meadows, wet heaths and heathy mires, open scrub and woodland, rocky lake shores and cliff-tops; also in artificial habitats including roadside verges and railway banks. 0-560 m (Fur Tor, Dartmoor, S. Devon).

Flower from near Frant on 30 September

Flowers

Foliage from near Frant on 30 September

Form from near Frant on 30 September

Scotch Thistle

Onopordum acanthium

July-September

A tall biennial herb of fields, hedgerows, rubbish tips and other waste places, often near market gardens and farm buildings, and perhaps dispersed to new sites with manure or contaminated straw. 0-330 m (near Alston, Cumberland).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage from Kent on 7 July

Form

Seaside Thistle

(Slender Thistle)

Carduus tenuiflorus

June-August

An annual or biennial herb of dry, coastal grasslands, sea-bird colonies, sea-walls, upper edges of beaches, sandy waste ground and roadsides. Inland, it occurs on well-drained soils, often, but not always, as an alien. Lowland.

Flower from Swansea Airport Bog on 10 July

Flowers from Swansea Airport Bog on 10 July

Foliage from Swansea Airport Bog on 10 July

Form

Slender Hardhead

(Brown Knapweed, Common Knapweed)

Centaurea nemoralis

(Centaurea nigra)

July onwards

A perennial herb of meadows and pastures, sea-cliffs, roadsides, railway banks, scrub, woodland edges, field borders and waste ground, on a wide range of soils. 0-580 m (Cadair Idris, Merioneth) and exceptionally at 845 m on Great Dun Fell (Westmorland).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Spear Thistle

Cirsium vulgare

July onwards

A monocarpic perennial occurring in a wide array of habitats, including overgrazed pastures and rough grassland, sea-cliffs, dunes, drift lines and well-drained, fertile, disturbed habitats including arable fields, spoil heaps, waste ground and burnt areas in woodland. 0-685 (Breadalbanes, Mid Perth), and exceptionally at 845 m on Great Dun Fell (Westmorland).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Star Thistle

(Red Star-thistle)

Centaurea calcitrapa

July-September

A biennial herb of waste ground and tracksides in dry grassland, and on banks on well-drained sandy, gravelly or light chalky soils. Lowland.

Flower from Chatham in Kent

Flowers

Foliage

Form from Rochester in Kent on 13 July

Swine's Succory

(Lamb's Succory)

Arnoseris minima

June-August

An annual weed of cornfields or fallow ground on the most infertile, acidic, sandy soils. It was particularly associated with soils over Lower Greensand. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Tuberous Thistle

Cirsium tuberosum

June-August

A perennial herb of old chalk and limestone grassland, often on slopes with a N. or N.W. aspect, and sometimes occurring in rank swards. It spreads by producing axillary basal rosettes to form clonal patches, and also reproduces by seed. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Welted Thistle

Carduus crispus

June onwards

A biennial herb of woodland margins, ditch-banks, damp hedge bottoms, streamsides, tall grassland, roadsides, railway banks and waste places, especially on clay soils with a high nutrient status. In Ireland, it is confined as a native to dry banks and waste places. Generally lowland, but reaching 365 m above Castleton (Derbys.).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Wood Burdock

(Same as Greater Burdock above)

Arctium nemorosum

(Arctium lappa)

July-September

Woodland and Wasteland (in many districts the commonest Burdock in drier woods, and on roadsides and waste ground)

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Woolly Thistle

Cirsium eriophorum

July-September

A robust monocarpic perennial herb occurring in dry, often ungrazed, grasslands, open scrub and woods on limestone, chalk and lime-rich clay. It also grows in disturbed habitats created by quarrying. 0-310 m (Hassop Mines, Derbys.).

Flower from Bath on 18 July

Flowers from Bath on 18 July

Foliage

Form from Bath on 18 July