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Italian plumeless thistle

Carduus pycnocephalus

Also called Plymouth Thistle, Slender Thistle, Slender Winged Thistle, Italian Thistle, Sheep Thistle, Shore Thistle, Slender Flower Thistle

Italian plumeless thistle
Photo: Franz Xaver, CC BY-SA 3.0

Italian plumeless thistle is a spiny winter annual weed of the daisy family, native to the Mediterranean, Europe and western Asia, and now invasive in many other regions. It grows as a rosette in cool seasons and sends up spiny, winged stems that bear pink to purple flower heads.

Family
Asteraceae (Daisy family)
Grows as
Annual
Light
Full sun
Native range
Macaronesia, Europe to W. Himalaya and Arabian Pen., N. Africa
Climate
temperate

About

Carduus pycnocephalus, with common names including Italian thistle, Italian plumeless thistle, and Plymouth thistle, is a species of thistle. It is native to the Mediterranean region in southern Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia; Eastern Europe and the Caucasus; and the Indian subcontinent.

The plant has become an introduced species in other regions, and on other continents, often becoming a noxious weed or invasive species.

Other Carduus plants

Carduus argentatus · Curly plumeless thistle · Musk Thistle · Plumeless thistle

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Carduus pycnocephalus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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