''Cirsium eriophorum'', the woolly thistle, is a herbaceous

biennial Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium is used in reference to a period of two years. In particular, it can refer to: * Biennial plant, a plant which blooms in its second year and th ...

species of flowering plant in the genus ''

Cirsium ''Cirsium'' is a genus of perennial and biennial flowering plants in the Asteraceae, one of several genera known commonly as thistles. They are more precisely known as plume thistles. These differ from other thistle genera ('' Carduus'', ''Silyb ...

'' of the family Asteraceae. It is widespread across much of Europe. It is a large

biennial plant A biennial plant is a flowering plant that, generally in a temperate climate, takes two years to complete its biological life cycle. Life cycle In its first year, the biennal plant undergoes primary growth, during which its vegetative structures ...

with sharp spines on the tips of the leaves, and long, woolly hairs on much of the foliage. The

flower heads 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 ...

are large and nearly spherical, with spines on the outside and many purple

disc floret The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

s but no

ray florets The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

Cirsium eriophorum (Kozara National Park, Republika Srpska)

Description

A tall, biennial plant, ''C. eriophorum'' reaches heights of . The strong, branched stem is densely woolly hairy but has no wings. The stiff leaves are usually

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

with strong, yellow spines; the lowest leaves are up to long. The leaf margins are rolled over and the underside of the leaf is felted with white hair. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

cymose An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed on ...

with a few large flowers with a diameter of up to . These are globular and densely covered with woolly hair. They contain many tubular florets, with long purple tubes and purple stamens, each with a spiny bract covered with white wool through which a spine projects. The flowers are rich in

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

and attract bees, flies, beetles, butterflies and moths.

Distribution and habitat

''Cirsium eriophorum'' has a Central and Western Europe distribution. Its range extends from

Upper Volga The Volga Region (russian: Поволжье, ''Povolzhye'', literally: "along the Volga") is a historical region in Russia that encompasses the drainage basin of the Volga River, the longest river in Europe, in central and southern European Russ ...

and the Balkans to the Netherlands, France and Britain. It typically grows in grassland, scrubland and open woodland on chalk, limestone or alkaline clay soils, including the disturbed ground caused by quarrying. In Britain, it grows up to about and is largely confined to central and southern England.

Uses

The young leaves of ''C. eriophorum'' can be eaten raw, and the young stems can be peeled and eaten raw or cooked, after being soaked in water to remove their bitterness. The flower buds can be used in a similar way to

artichokes The globe artichoke (''Cynara cardunculus'' var. ''scolymus'' ),Rottenberg, A., and D. Zohary, 1996: "The wild ancestry of the cultivated artichoke." Genet. Res. Crop Evol. 43, 53–58. also known by the names French artichoke and green articho ...

but smaller, and an edible oil can be extracted from the seeds. The pappus can be used as

tinder Tinder is easily combustible material used to start a fire. Tinder is a finely divided, open material which will begin to glow under a shower of sparks. Air is gently wafted over the glowing tinder until it bursts into flame. The flaming tinder i ...

for lighting fires. The plant is hardy and can be easily grown in a sunny position in the garden, in a wildflower meadow or in dappled shade in a

woodland garden A woodland garden is a garden or section of a garden that includes large trees and is laid out so as to appear as more or less natural woodland, though it is often actually an artificial creation. Typically it includes plantings of flowering shrub ...

. It flowers between July and September.

References

External links

Photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden

Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora
in English with photo
Czech Botany
in Czech with photos
Tela Botanica
in French with photos

in German with photo * ttp://www.terra.hu/haznov/htm/Cirsium.eriophorum.html Terra Alapítvány, Növény adatlap, ''Cirsium eriophorum'', Gyapjas aszatin Hungarian with photos {{Taxonbar, from=Q1029175

eriophorum ''Eriophorum'' (cottongrass, cotton-grass or cottonsedge) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cyperaceae, the sedge family. They are found throughout the arctic, subarctic, and temperate portions of the Northern Hemisphere in acid bo ...

Flora of Europe Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli