Kingdom Plantae Family Asteraceae Tribe Cynareae Scientific name Cirsium heterophyllum | Order Asterales Subfamily Carduoideae Genus Cirsium Rank Species | |
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Similar Cirsium spinosissimum, Cirsium acaule, Cirsium oleraceum, Cirsium palustre, Doronicum clusii | ||
Cirsium heterophyllum 1 mp4
Cirsium heterophyllum, also known as melancholy thistle, is an erect spineless herb in the sunflower family. It is native to Europe and western Asia, where it grows in upland meadows, grasslands, road verges and open woodland.
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Description
Cirsium heterophyllum is a perennial herb. Unusually for a thistle, it lacks spines. The plant grows 45 to 120 cm tall, and forms creeping runners. The stem is grooved but unwinged, more-or-less branchless, and cottony. The leaves are green and hairless above, thick white-felted underneath. The basal leaves are lanceolate with petioles and softly prickly edges, and grow from 20 to 40 cm long, and from 4 to 8 cm wide. The upper leaves do not have petioles, clasping the stem with cordate (heart-shaped) bases. The flower heads are 3 to 5 cm long and wide, the flowers red-purple, and appear from July to August.
Distribution
Cirsium heterophyllum is a species of Europe and Central Asia.[1] It is native in upland areas of Scotland and northern England and north Wales, but is rare in other parts of Great Britain and Ireland. It is present throughout Scandinavia except Denmark, in north central Europe and Russia to about 100 degrees East. It grows in upland grassland and scrub, open woodland and river valleys.
Similar species
Cirsium dissectum (meadow thistle) is a more slender species.
Medical use
The plant was considered a possible cure for sadness. Nicholas Culpepper in 1669 said that it "makes a man as merry as a cricket".
