Cirsium palustre
Cirsium arvense
cirse ou chardon des marais, European Marsh thistle, European swamp or marsh thistle, European swamp thistle, marsh thistle
Canada or creeping or field thistle, Canada thistle, Canadian thistle, chardon du Canada ou des champs, cirse des champs, creepiing thistle, creeping thistle, lettuce from hell thistle
single, erect, villous to tomentose with jointed trichomes, distally tomentose with fine, unbranched trichomes;
branches 0–few, ascending, (short).
1–many, erect, glabrous to appressed gray-tomentose;
branches 0–many, ascending.
blades narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, 15–30+ × 3–10 cm, margins shallowly to very deeply pinnatifid, narrow lobes separated by broad sinuses, spiny-dentate to lobed, main spines 2–6 mm, abaxial villous to tomentose with jointed trichomes, sometimes also thinly tomentose with fine unbranched trichomes, adaxial faces villous with septate trichomes or glabrate;
basal often present at flowering, petioles spiny-winged, bases tapered;
cauline many, sessile, gradually reduced and becoming widely spaced above, bases long-decurrent with prominently spiny wings;
distal cauline deeply pinnatifid with few-toothed spine-tipped lobes.
blades oblong to elliptic, 3–30 × 1–6 cm, margins plane to revolute, entire and spinulose, dentate, or shallowly to deeply pinnatifid, lobes well separated, lance-oblong to triangular-ovate, spinulose to few-toothed or few-lobed near base, main spines 1–7 mm, abaxial faces glabrous to densely gray-tomentose, adaxial green, glabrous to thinly tomentose;
basal absent at flowering, petioles narrowly winged, bases tapered;
principal larger cauline proximally winged-petiolate, distally sessile, well distributed, gradually reduced, not decurrent;
distal cauline becoming bractlike, entire, toothed, or lobed, spinulose or not.
0–1 cm.
0.2–7 cm.
ovoid to campanulate, 1–1.5 × 0.8–1.3 cm, thinly cobwebby tomentose with fine unbranched trichomes.
ovoid in flower, ± campanulate in fruit, 1–2 × 1–2 cm, arachnoid tomentose, ± glabrate.
lavender to purple (white), 11–13 mm, tubes 5–7 mm, throats 2–3 mm, lobes 3–4.5 mm;
style tips 1.5–2 mm.
purple (white or pink); staminate 12–18 mm, (remaining longer than pappus when head is fully mature), tubes 8–11 mm, throats 1–1.5 mm, lobes 3–5 mm; pistillate 14–20 mm, (overtopped by pappi in fruit), tubes 10–15 mm, throats ca. 1 mm, lobes 2–3 mm;
style tips 1–2 mm.
in 5–7 series, strongly imbricate, greenish, or with purplish tinge, lanceolate to ovate (outer) or linear-lanceolate (inner), margins thinly arachnoid-ciliate, abaxial faces with narrow glutinous ridge, outer and middle appressed, entire, apices acute, mucronate or spines erect or spreading, weak, 0.3–1 mm;
apices of inner phyllaries purplish, linear-attenuate, scarious, flat.
in 6–8 series, strongly imbricate, (usually purple-tinged), ovate (outer) to linear (inner), abaxial faces with narrow glutinous ridge, outer and middle appressed, entire, apices ascending to spreading, spines 0–1 mm (fine);
apices of inner phyllaries flat, ± flexuous, margins entire to minutely erose or ciliolate.
few–many in dense clusters at branch tips.
1–many, borne singly or in corymbiform or paniculiform arrays at tips of main stem and branches.
tan to stramineous, 2.5–3.5 mm, apical collars 0.1–0.2 mm, shiny;
pappi 9–11 mm.
brown, 2–4 mm, apical collar not differentiated;
pappi 13–32 mm, exceeding corollas.
= 34.
= 34.
Cirsium palustre
Cirsium arvense
Cirsium palustre is a noxious weed, native to Europe, that invasively spreads through wetland communities, forming impenetrable spiny stands as it displaces native species. The range of this pernicious weed in North America is rapidly expanding. It has the potential to spread into boreal forest areas across the continent; in Europe it grows nearly to the Arctic Circle. The rapid spread of C. palustre in Michigan (E. G. Voss 1972–1996, vol. 3) is indicative of its invasiveness. Spontaneous hybrids between C. palustre and C. arvense have been reported from England and other European countries (W. A. Sledge 1975) and can be expected wherever these species grow together in North America.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Cirsium arvense is one of the most economically important agricultural weeds in the world. It was introduced to North America in the 1600s and soon was recognized as a problem weed. Weed control legislation against the species was passed by the Vermont legislature in 1795 (R. J. Moore 1975). Canada thistle is now listed as a noxious weed in most areas where it occurs. It has very high seed production, and the runner roots readily survive the fragmentation that accompanies cultivation.
Numerous variants of Cirsium arvense have been named based upon such features as pubescence, extent of leaf division, and spininess. Although extreme variants can be strikingly different, they are connected by such a web of intermediates that there seems to be little value in according any of them formal taxonomic recognition.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria, 
SW CO Wildflowers, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
