Carduus defloratus - Mountain Thistle

Phylum: Magnoliophyta - Class: Equisetopsida - Order: Asterales - Family: Asteraceae

A perennial herb found in alpine parts of central mainland Europe, the Mountain Thistle produces beautiful flowers in late spring and summer.

Description

Mountain Thistle grows to a typical height of a metre with the occasional specimen reaching a height of 1.2 metres. The spiny, serrated leaves form a rosette from which arise erect stems topped with one or more compound flowers. When mature the lilac-coloured flowers tend to droop (they become what is ofted referred to as 'nodding').

Above: the lovely flowers of Mountain Thistle are upright when immature and later become nodding.

The flower heads are typically 30 to 40mm across. Pollination is mainly by insects. In late summer and autumn the seeds, which have feathery white papuses ('parachutes' as some people call them), are dispersed by the wind.

Distribution

Common throughout much of central Europe, this species is not native to Britain. It is a fairly common sight in mountainous regions of Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Slovenia and parts of Spain.

Habitat

Mountrain Thistle favours calcareous (chalk or limestone) stony soils in at altitudes of 400 to 2000 metres above sea level. These hardy plants cope well in exposed locations but can also be seen on woodland edges.

Blooming Times

Mountain Thistle produces its flowers between May and September. The specimens shown on this page were already blooming in early June at an altitude of about 400 metres above sea level in western Slovenia.

Similar species

Melancholy Thistle Cirsium heterophyllum is native to Britain and Ireland as well as mainland Europe; this upland species has pink flowers.

Etymology

Carduus, the genus name, comes from Latin and means a kind of thistle or a thistle-like plant. The specific epithet defloratus suggests that the flower heads are cut off... but why?

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