''Cirsium acaule'' or ''acaulon'' has the English name dwarf thistle or stemless thistle. It is widespread across much of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

.Altervista Flora Italiana, Cardo nano, ''Cirsium acaule''
includes photos and European distribution map It is often found on short, calcerous grasslands.

Description

''Cirsium acaule'' is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herb. The leaves are a spreading rosette, spiny, 10 to 15 cm long. There is usually only one

flower head A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...

, although there can sometimes be 2 or 3. Usually it is not stalked from the leaf rosette. The flower head is 3 to 4 cm long, the florets are red/purple. They flower from June to September.

References

acaule Flora of Europe Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Cynareae-stub