Creeping Thistle

Cirsium arvense

Please keep in mind that it is illegal to uproot a plant without the landowner's consent and care should be taken at all times not to damage wild plants. Wild plants should never be picked for pleasure and some plants are protected by law.
For more information please download the BSBI Code of Conduct PDF document.

Plant Data

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Order:

Asterales

Family:

Asteraceae (Daisy)

Also in this family:

Annual Sunflower, Autumn Hawkbit, Beaked Hawksbeard, Black Knapweed, Black-eyed Susan, Blanketflower, Blue Fleabane, Blue Globe-thistle, Bristly Oxtongue, Butterbur, Buttonweed, Canadian Fleabane, Canadian Goldenrod, Carline Thistle, Chalk Knapweed, Coltsfoot, Common Blue Sow-thistle, Common Cat's-ear, Common Daisy, Common Dandelion, Common Fleabane, Common Goldenrod, Common Groundsel, Common Michaelmas Daisy, Common Mugwort, Common Ragwort, Confused Michaelmas Daisy, Corn Marigold, Cornflower, Dwarf Thistle, Early Goldenrod, Feverfew, Fox and Cubs, Goat's Beard, Greater Burdock, Greater Knapweed, Grey-headed Hawkweed, Heath Groundsel, Hemp Agrimony, Hoary Ragwort, Lavender-cotton, Lesser Burdock, Lesser Hawkbit, Marsh Cudweed, Marsh Ragwort, Marsh Thistle, Mexican Fleabane, Mouse-ear Hawkweed, Musk Thistle, Narrow-leaved Ragwort, New England Hawkweed, Nipplewort, Oxeye Daisy, Oxford Ragwort, Perennial Cornflower, Perennial Sow-thistle, Pineapple Mayweed, Ploughman's Spikenard, Pot Marigold, Prickly Lettuce, Prickly Sow-thistle, Red-seeded Dandelion, Rough Hawkbit, Scented Mayweed, Scentless Mayweed, Sea Aster, Sea Mayweed, Seaside Daisy, Shaggy Soldier, Shasta Daisy, Shrub Ragwort, Silver Ragwort, Smooth Hawksbeard, Smooth Sow-thistle, Sneezeweed, Sneezewort, Spear Thistle, Sticky Groundsel, Tansy, Trifid Bur-marigold, Tyneside Leopardplant, Wall Lettuce, Yarrow

Type:

Flower

Maximum Size:

2 metres tall

Habitats:

Ditches, farmland, gardens, grassland, meadows, roadsides, seaside, wasteland.

Flower:

Purple, many petals

Deep lilac-coloured flowers with green to purple bracts, seldom spiny.

Fruit:

A flattened, glossy achene with a pappus of white feathery hairs on the end.

Leaves:

Alternate leaves along the stems. Stalkless with wavy, spiny margins. Variably lobed and occasionally cottony on the undersides.

Aroma:

The only common UK Thistle with fragrant flowers. Smells like perfume.

Other Names:

Californian Thistle, Canada Thistle, Canadian Thistle, Corn Thistle, Cursed Thistle, Field Thistle, Green Thistle, Perennial Thistle, Small-flowered Thistle, Way Thistle.

Frequency (UK):

Abundant

Distribution Map

Reproduced by kind permission of the BSBI.

Click to open an Interactive Map