Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Medium
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: Europe and Asia
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Runners
Defense: Spines
Status: Common

About

Creeping Thistle spreads aggressively via deep horizontal rhizomes — a single plant can send up shoots metres away and colonise an entire field without setting a single seed. Its fluffy purple flower heads are one of the most important late-summer nectar sources for bees and butterflies across the northern hemisphere.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Cirsium
Species: Cirsium arvense