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Cirsium arvense
| Common name: |
Creeping Thistle |
Family: |
Compositae |
| Author: |
(L.)Scop. |
Botanical references: |
17 |
| Synonyms: |
Serratula arvensis (L.), Carduus arvensis ((L.)Hill.) |
| Known Hazards: |
None known |
| Range: |
Europe, including Britain, from Scandanavia south and east to N. Africa and Asia. |
| Habitat: |
Arable land, roadsides etc[9, 13], a common weed of cultivated land[17]. |
| Edibility Rating (1-5): |
2 | Medicinal Rating (1-5): | 2 |
| Other Possible Synonyms: | From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below. |
| C. arvense var. argenteum[B,P]
C. arvense var. horridum[B,P]
C. arvense var. integrifolium[B,P]
C. arvense var. mite[B,P]
C. arvense var. vestitum[B,P]
C. incanum[B,P]
C. setosum[B,P]
Cnicus arvensis[G]
|
| Other Common Names: | From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below. |
| Akkerdistel [D], Canada Thistle [L,FEIS], Canadian Thistle [B,P], Creeping Plume Thistle [H], Creeping Thistle [L], |
| Epithets: | From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets |
|
arvense = of cultivated fields;
|
| Systematics: | From a USDA
Plants Database |
|
Order: Asterales. Renamed to Asteraceae -- Aster family
|
| Other Range Info: |
From the Ethnobotany Database |
|
Us
|
| Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds | From USDA
PLANTS database, Weeds Australia
, DEFRA Injurious Weeds | | Listed as noxious/invasive for: Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmaina. |
| Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds | From USDA
PLANTS database, Weeds Australia
, DEFRA Injurious Weeds | | Listed as noxious/invasive for: UK. |
Physical Characteristics
Perennial growing to 0.9m by 1m at a fast rate. It is hardy to zone 4 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from July to September, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees, flies, Lepidoptera (Moths & Butterflies) and beetles.
The plant is self-fertile.
We rate it 2/5 for edibility and
2/5 for medicinal use.
The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils.
The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils.
It cannot grow in the shade.
It requires moist soil.
Habitats and Possible Locations
Meadow, Cultivated Beds.Edible Uses
Curdling agent; Leaves; Root; Stem.
Root of first year plants - raw or cooked[183]. Nutritious but rather
bland, they are best used in a mixture with other vegetables[9]. The root is
likely to be rich in inulin, a starch that cannot be digested by humans. This
starch thus passes straight through the digestive system and, in some people,
ferments to produce flatulence[K].
Stems - they are peeled and cooked like asparagus or rhubarb[9, 12, 177,
183].
Leaves - raw or cooked[177, 183]. A fairly bland flavour, but the prickles
need to be removed before the leaves can be eaten - not only is this rather
fiddly but very little edible leaf remains[K]. The leaves are also used to
coagulate plant milks etc[46, 61, 183].
Medicinal Uses
Disclaimer
Antiphlogistic; Astringent; Diuretic; Emetic; Emmenagogue; Hepatic; Tonic.
The root is tonic, diuretic, astringent, antiphlogistic and
hepatic[207]. It has been chewed as a remedy for toothache[4]. A decoction of
the roots has been used to treat worms in children[257]. A paste of the
roots, combined with an equal quantity of the root paste of Amaranthus
spinosus, is used in the treatment of indigestion[272].
The plant contains a volatile alkaloid and a glycoside called cnicin, which
has emetic and emmenagogue properties[240].
The leaves are antiphlogistic[207]. They cause inflammation and have
irritating properties[207[.
Other Uses
Oil; Tinder.
The seed fluff is used as a tinder[106].
The seed of all species of thistles yields a good oil by expression[4]. The
seed of this species contains about 22% oil[240].
Cultivation details
The creeping thistle is a pernicious garden weed, spreading freely from
its aggressive root system[17, K], It can quickly form dense clumps of growth
and really does not need to be introduced into the garden. Succeeds in any
ordinary garden soil in a sunny position[200].
Plants are often dioecious[17].
A polymorphic species[17].
Propagation
Seed - sow early spring or autumn in situ. Germination usually takes
place within 2 - 8 weeks at 20°c. A pernicious weed, not many people would
want to invite this plant into their garden.
Suppliers
For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.
Web References
- Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
- [H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
- [E] Ethnobotany Data
(common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
- [V] Images
from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group.
- [B] Data
(Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
- [G] Data
(Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
- [C] Taxon data.
from the CalFlora database.
- Images
from the CalPhoto database.
- [P] Data.
(uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
- [FEIS] Data
(Uses, Ecology, Fire Effects) from the USDA Forestry Service Fire Effects Information System.
- [HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
References for Carduus arvensis (a possible synonym).
- [H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
References for cirsium arvense (a possible synonym).
See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.
Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.
[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.
[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.
[12] Loewenfeld. C. and Back. P. Britain's Wild Larder. David and Charles ISBN 0-7153-7971-2
A handy pocket guide.
[13] Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3
Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.
[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
[106] Coon. N. The Dictionary of Useful Plants. Rodale Press 1975 ISBN 0-87857-090-x
Interesting reading but short on detail.
[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
[207] Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File. 1993 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6
A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.
[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.
[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.
Readers Comments
Plant Rennet
Rich
(pfaf@scs.leeds.ac.uk)
Sat Apr 15 16:59:27
2000
According to
VegSoc,
in the past,
fig leaves, melon, wild thistle and safflower have all supplied plant
rennets for cheese making.
agsieve
also has
information about another plant source, using the juice from the
plant as a coagulant.
Cross references:
Plants:
Asclepias eriocarpa,
Carduus nutans,
Carthamnus tinctorius,
Cirsium vulgare,
Cynara cardunculus,
Cynara scolymus,
Drosera rotundifolia,
Ficus carica,
Galega officinalis,
Galium verum,
Fumaria officinalis,
Oxalis acetosella,
Pinguicula vulgaris,
Pyrularia edulis ,
Rhus chinensis,
Rumex acetosa,
Urtica dioica,
Withania somnifera.
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Plant information taken from the
Plants For A Future -
Species Database.
Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963 This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Cirsium+arvense
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Cirsium+arvense
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