Citation: Miller, Gard. Dict. edn 4 (1754).

Derivation: Latinised Greek cirsion, applied by Pliny to a species of thistle.

Synonymy: Not Applicable

Common name: Thistles.

Description:
Spiny biennial and perennial herbs; vestiture cobwebby; stems erect, often with spiny wings; leaves alternate, basal and cauline, dentate to pinnatisect.

Capitula sessile or pedunculate, solitary or in corymbs, homogamous; involucres globose to campanulate; bracts rigid, herbaceous, tipped with a single spine, imbricate in many unequal series; receptacle with bristle-like scales; florets all tubular, bisexual, or unisexual and the plants dioecious; corolla narrow, slightly widened upwards, 5-lobed, purple; anthers sagittate or tailed at the base, with subulate sterile appendages at the apex; style branches diverging at the apex only, without appendages.

Achenes oblong, asymmetric, glabrous; pappus of numerous plumose bristles connate in a ring at the base and deciduous as a unit.

Distribution:  About 275 species in Europe, Asia and North America.

Biology: No text

Key to Species:

1. Upper leaf surface cobwebby; capitula numerous in a corymbose panicle	C arvense 1.
1. Upper leaf surface hispid; capitula 1-3 at the end of each leafy branch	C vulgare 2.

Author: Not yet available