Cirsium arvense

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"Cursed thistle" redirects here. For the medicinal plant, see Cnicus.
Cirsium arvense
Cirsium arvense with Bees Richard Bartz.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Asterids
Order:
Asterales
Family:
Asteraceae
Tribe:
Cynareae
Genus:
Cirsium
Species:
C. arvense
Binomial name
Cirsium arvense
Synonyms[1]
Synonymy
  • Breea arvensis (L.) Less.
  • Breea dioica (Cass.) Less.
  • Breea ochrolepidia (Juz.) Soják
  • Breea praealta Less.
  • Breea setosa (Willd.) Soják
  • Carduus arvensis (L.) Robson
  • Carduus haemorrhoidalis Auct. ex DC.
  • Carduus neglectus Steud.
  • Carduus segetum (Bunge) Franch.
  • Carduus serratuloides Neck.
  • Carduus setosus Bab.
  • Cephalonoplos arvense (L.) Fourr.
  • Cephalonoplos arvensis (L.) Fourr.
  • Cephalonoplos ochrolepidium (Juz.) Juz.
  • Cephalonoplos segetum (Bunge) Kitam.
  • Cephalonoplos setosus (Ledeb.) Kitam.
  • Cirsium albicans Willk.
  • Cirsium albiflorum (Kitag.) Kitag.
  • Cirsium argenteum Peyer ex Vest
  • Cirsium argunense DC.
  • Cirsium celakovskianum Knaf
  • Cirsium dioicum Cass.
  • Cirsium halophilum Turcz. ex Herder
  • Cirsium horridum (Wimm. & Grab.) Stankov
  • Cirsium incanum (S.G.Gmel.) Fisch. ex M.Bieb.
  • Cirsium laevigatum Tausch
  • Cirsium macrostylon (Moretti) Rchb.
  • Cirsium mutatum Menyh.
  • Cirsium neglectum Fisch. ex Spreng.
  • Cirsium ochrolepidium Juz.
  • Cirsium praealtum Cass.
  • Cirsium ruthenicum Fisch.
  • Cirsium setosum (Willd.) Besser ex M.Bieb.
  • Cirsium sordidum Wallr.
  • Cirsium stocksii Boiss.
  • Cnicus arvensis (L.) Hoffm.
  • Cnicus lanatus Willd.
  • Cnicus macrostylus Moretti
  • Cnicus neglectus Parish ex Greene
  • Cnicus ruthenicus J.Henning
  • Cnicus setosus (Willd.) Besser
  • Cynara repens Stokes
  • Serratula arvensis L.
  • Serratula incana S.G.Gmel.
  • Serratula setosa Willd.

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Cirsium arvense is a species of Cirsium, native throughout Europe and northern Asia, and widely introduced elsewhere. The standard English name in its native area is creeping thistle.[2][3][4][5][6][7]

Alternative names

A number of other names are used in other areas of have been used in the past, including: Canada thistle,[8] Canadian thistle, lettuce from hell thistle, California thistle,[9] corn thistle, cursed thistle, field thistle, green thistle, hard thistle, perennial thistle, prickly thistle, small-flowered thistle and way thistle. The first two names are in wide use in the United States, despite being a misleading designation (it is not of Canadian origin).[10]

Physical characteristics

File:Cirsium arvense - põldohakas.jpg
Flowering creeping thistle

It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing 30–100 cm, forming extensive clonal colonies from rhizomes that send up numerous erect stems each spring, reaching 1–1.2 m tall (occasionally more).

Stems are green smooth and glabrous (having no trichomes or glaucousness), mostly without spiny wings. The leaves are very spiny, lobed, up to 15–20 cm long and 2–3 cm broad (smaller on the upper part of the flower stem).

The inflorescence is 10–22 mm diameter, pink-purple, with all the florets of similar form (no division into disc and ray florets). The flowers are usually dioecious, but not invariably so, with some plants bearing hermaphrodite flowers. The seeds are 4–5 mm long, with a feathery pappus which assists in wind dispersal.[4][11][12]

There are two varieties:[4]

  • Cirsium arvense var. arvense. Most of Europe. Leaves hairless or thinly hairy beneath.
  • Cirsium arvense var. incanum (Fisch.) Ledeb. Southern Europe. Leaves thickly hairy beneath.

As a subclassification of the "Eudicot" monophyletic group, Cirsium is a "true dicotyledon". The number of Pollen grain furrows or pores helps classify the flowering plants, with eudicots having three colpi (tricolpate).[13][14]

C. arvense is a C3 carbon fixation plant.[15] The C3 plants, originated during Mesozoic and Paleozoic eras, and tend to thrive in areas where sunlight intensity is moderate, temperatures are moderate, and ground water is plentiful. C3 plants lose 97% of the water taken up through their roots to transpiration.[16]

It is a Ruderal species.[17]

Ecology

The seeds are an important food for goldfinch and linnet, and to a lesser extent for other finches.[18] Creeping thistle foliage is used as a food by over 20 species of Lepidoptera, including the painted lady butterfly and the engrailed, a species of moth, and several species of aphids.[19][20][21]

The flowers are visited by a wide variety of insects (the generalised pollination syndrome).[22]

Status as a weed

The species is widely considered a weed even where it is native, for example being designated an "injurious weed" in the United Kingdom under the Weeds Act 1959.[23] It is also a serious invasive species in many additional regions where it has been introduced, usually accidentally as a contaminant in cereal crop seeds. It is cited as a noxious weed in several countries; for example Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United States. Many countries regulate this plant, or its parts (i.e., seed) as a contaminant of other imported products such as grains for consumption or seeds for propagation. In Canada, Cirsium arvense is classified as a primary noxious weed seed in the Weed Seeds Order 2005 which applies to Canada's Seeds Regulations.[24]

Control methods include:

  • cutting at flower stem extension before the flower buds open to prevent seed spread. Repeated cutting at the same growth stage over several years may "wear down" the plant.
  • Applying herbicide: Herbicides dominated by phenoxy compounds (especially MCPA) saw drastic declines in thistle infestation in Sweden in the 1950s.[15] MCPA and Clopyralid are approved in some regions.

Orellia ruficauda feeds on Canada thistle and has been reported to be the most effective biological control agent for that plant.[25] Its larvae parasitize the seed heads, feeding solely upon fertile seed heads.[26]

The rust species Puccinia obtegens has shown some promise for controlling Canada thistle, but it must be used in conjunction with other control measures to be effective.[27] Also Puccinia punctiformis is used in North America and New Zealand in biological control.[28] In 2013 it was demonstrated in four countries in three continents that epidemics of systemic disease caused by this rust fungus could be routinely and easily established. [29] The procedure for establishing this control agent involves three simple steps and is a long-term sustainable control solution that is free and does not involve herbicides. Plants systemically diseased with the rust gradually but surely die. Reductions in thistle density were estimated, in 10 sites in the U.S., Greece, and Russia, to average 43%, 64%, and 81% by 18, 30, and 42 months, respectively, after a single application of spores of the fungus.[30]

Aceria anthocoptes feeds on this species and is considered to be a good potential biological control agent.

Uses

Like other Cirsium species, the roots are edible, though rarely used, not least because of their propensity to induce flatulence in some people. The taproot is considered the most nutritious.[citation needed] The leaves are also edible, though the spines make their preparation for food too tedious to be worthwhile. The stalks, however, are also edible and more easily de-spined.[31] Bruichladdich distillery on Isle of Islay lists creeping thistle as one of the 22 botanical foraged for use in their gin, The Botanist. [32]

The feathery pappus is also used by the Cherokee to fletch blowgun darts. [33]

Gallery

  • Pappus of Cirsium arvense

  • Thistle with cuckoo spit.jpeg

    A creeping thistle with a "cuckoo spit"

  • Carduelis carduelis2.jpg

    A European goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) feeding on creeping thistle seeds

  • Rust Mite, Aceria anthocoptes.jpg

    Electron scan micrography of Aceria anthocoptes, a potential biological control agent of the weed, Canada

References

  1. ↑ The Plant List Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop.
  2. ↑ Joint Nature Conservation Committee: Cirsium arvense
  3. ↑ Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland Database
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Flora of Northwest Europe: Cirsium arvense
  5. ↑ Flora of North America, Canada or creeping or field thistle, chardon du Canada ou des champs, cirse des champs, Cirsium arvense (Linnaeus) Scopoli
  6. ↑ Flora of China, 丝路蓟 si lu ji, Cirsium arvense (Linnaeus) Scopoli
  7. ↑ Altervista Flora Italiana, Cardo dei campi comune, Acker-Kratzdistel, åkertistel, Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop. includes photos and distribution maps
  8. ↑ Nebraska Department of Agriculture Noxious Weed Program
  9. ↑ Californian Thistle (Cirsium arvense), Landcare Research, New Zealand[dead link]
  10. ↑ Invasive and Problem Plants of the United States: Cirsium arvense
  11. ↑ Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. ISBN 0-340-40170-2
  12. ↑ Kay, Q. O. N. (1985). Hermaphrodites and subhermaphrodites in a reputedly dioecious plant, Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop. New Phytol. 100: 457-472. Available online (pdf file).
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (full text)
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Weeds and weed management on arable land: an ecological approach Sigurd Håkansson CABI Publishing Series, 2003, ISBN 0-85199-651-5
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ p80
  18. ↑ Cramp, S., & Perrins, C. M. (1994). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Vol. VIII: Crows to Finches. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
  19. ↑ Finnish Lepidoptera Cirsium arvense
  20. ↑ The Ecology of Commanster: Cirsium arvense
  21. ↑ Ecological Flora of the British Isles: Phytophagous Insects for Cirsium arvense
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ DEFRA: Identification of injurious weeds
  24. ↑ Weed Seeds Order 2005, Canada Gazette Part I, Vol. 139, No. 9
  25. ↑ Moore 1975, Maw 1976
  26. ↑ Lalonde
  27. ↑ Turner et al. 1980
  28. ↑ R. C. French, A. R. Lightfield: Induction of Systemic Aecial Infection in Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense) by Teliospores of Puccinia punctiformis. In: Phytopathology. Band 80, Nr. 8, 1990, S. 872–877, DOI:10.1094/Phyto-80-872
  29. ↑ Berner, D. K., et al. (2013) Successful establishment of epiphytotics of Puccinia punctiformis for biological control of Cirsium arvense. Biological Control 67:350-360.
  30. ↑ Berner, D. K., et al. (2015) Asymptomatic systemic disease of Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) caused by Puccinia punctiformis and changes in shoot density following inoculation. Biological Control 86:28-35.
  31. ↑ Plants for a Future: Cirsium arvense
  32. ↑ http://www.thebotanist.com/distilled/the-22
  33. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySjOxBJ0AEQ

External links

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