''Cirsium dissectum'', also known as meadow thistle, is an erect

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 wid ...

herb. It is found in

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France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

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, etc. It is found in

fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich Groundwater, ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as ...

s and less acidic

peat bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

s i.e. it prefers damp boggy areas.Altervista Flora Italiana, Cardo sbrandellato, ''Cirsium dissectum'' (L.) Hill
/ref>

Description

''Cirsium dissectum'' grows 15 to 50 cm tall. It resembles a more slender version of '' Cirsium heterophyllum'' in having a grooved cottony stem and lanceolate shaped leaves, that have prickles and not spines. However the leaves are narrower (under 3 cm), less hairy underneath, and hairy on top. The flower heads are 2 to 3 cm long, the

floret This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

s being dark red/purple, flowering from June until August. The plant has runners.

Similar species

''Cirsium tuberosum'' or tuberous thistle, has tuberous roots rather than runners, and the leaves are twice pinnated. It is found in Calcareous grasslands but very rare. It has been recorded in

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in the counties of

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

, Glamorgan, and

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

.Wildflowers of the British Isles
/ref> It flowers from June until July.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q392283 dissectum Flora of Europe Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus