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Onopordum illyricum

Common name:	Cotton Thistle	Family:	Compositae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	S. Europe.
Habitat:	Sunny and well-drained habitats.
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Onopordon illyricum[HORTIPLEX]
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	illyricum = Illyria, Yugoslavia;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Asterales. Renamed to Asteraceae -- Aster family

Physical Characteristics

Biennial growing to 1.3m. It is hardy to zone 7. 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. The plant is self-fertile. It is noted for attracting wildlife. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Flowers.

Flower buds - cooked. Used as a globe artichoke (Cynara scolymus) substitute[183], though they are even more fiddly than that plant[K].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Succeeds in almost any ordinary garden soil. Requires a well-drained soil in full sun. Prefers a slightly alkaline soil.
Plants are hardy to about -15°c.
Often self-sows, sometimes to the point of nuisance, though the seedlings can easily be hoed out and can also be transplanted if they are moved whilst still small[200].
The flowers are very attractive to bees.

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in situ[200]. The seed can also be sown in situ in autumn[200].
If the seed is in short supply then it can be sown in a pot in the greenhouse in the spring. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle and plant them out into their permanent positions in early summer.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[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.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for Onopordon illyricum (a possible synonym).

[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[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.

Readers Comments

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Bibliography

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?Onopordum+illyricum
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Onopordum+illyricum

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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.