Interesting Facts
Description
Family Compositae
The largest family of flowering plants , the Compositae (Asteraceae), comprising about 1,100 genera and more than 20,000 species and characterized by many small flowers arranged in a head looking like a single flower and subtended by an involucre of bracts. A head may consist of both ray flowers and disk flowers, as in the sunflower, of disk flowers only, as in the burdock, or of ray flowers only, as in the dandelion.
Genus Carduus
Annuals
or biennials [perennials
], 30-200(-400) cm. spiny
, ± tomentose
, sometimes glabrate
. Stems erect
, simple
to much branched, (spiny-winged) . Leaves basal and cauline; petiolate
or sessile; blade
margins
spiny dentate, often 1-2-pinnately lobed
, faces
glabrous
or hairy
, eglandular
. Heads discoid
, borne singly or 2-20 in dense clusters
or corymbiform
arrays. (Peduncles naked or leafy-bracteate, spiny-winged or not winged
.) Involucres cylindric
to spheric. Phyllaries many in 7-10+ series, linear
to broadly ovate
, bases
appressed
, margins entire, apices ascending
to spreading
or reflexed
, acute, spine-tipped. Receptacles flat, epaleate, bearing setiform
scales
("flattened bristles"). Florets several-many; corollas white to pink or purple, ± bilateral
, tubes
long, slender, throats
short, campanulate
, abruptly expanded from tubes, lobes
linear; anther
bases sharply short-tailed, apical appendages
oblong
; style branches: fused portions with slightly, minutely puberulent
, swollen basal nodes, distally papillate
or glabrous, distinct
portions very short. Cypselae ovoid
, slightly compressed
, faces smooth
. glabrous, attachment scars
slightly lateral
; pappi persistent
or falling in rings
. of many minutely barbed
, basally connate
bristles
or setiform, minutely barbed scales ("minutely flattened bristles"). x = 8, 9, 10, 11, 13.
Species ca.
90: introduced
; Eurasia
, Africa.[1]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
()
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
()
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
()
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
()
- Class:
Spermatopsida
()
- Brongniart, 1843
- Subclass:
Asteridae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Campanulanae
()
- Takhtajan Ex Reveal, 1992
- Order:
Asterales
()
- Lindley, 1833
- Family:
Compositae
()
- Giseke, 1792, nom. cons., nom. alt.
- Subfamily:
Carduoideae
()
- Subfamily:
Carduoideae
(
- Family:
Compositae
(
- Order:
Asterales
(
- Superorder:
Campanulanae
(
- Subclass:
Asteridae
(
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Similar Species
Members of the genus Carduus
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 11 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
C. acanthoides (Plumeless Thistle) · C. crispus (Curled Plumless-Thistle) · C. nutans (Chardon Penche) · C. nutans macrocephalus (Musk Thistle) · C. nutans macrolepis (Chardon Penche) · C. nutans var. litoralis (Nodding Thistle) · C. orthocephalus (Plumeless Thistle) · C. pycnocephalus (Compact-Headed Thistle) · C. scariosus (Meadow Thistle) · C. tenuiflorus (Italian Thistle) · C. x orthocephalus (Plumeless Thistle)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. 4 1907 Edinburgh: H. M. Stationery Off. url p. 145.
- Supplement to the arctic zoology London: Printed by Henry Hughs, 1787. url .
- The Annals of Scottish natural history. Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1892-1911. url p. 47.
- Batra, S. W. T., J. R. Coulson, P. H. Dunn, and P. E. Boldt. 1981. Insects and Fungi Associated with Carduus Thistles (Compositae). Washington. [U.S.D.A. Techn. Bull. 1616.]
- Desrochers, A. M. , J. F. Bain, and S. I. Warwick. 1988. A biosystematic study of the Carduus nutans complex in Canada. Canad. J. Bot. 66: 16211631.
- Desrochers, A. M., J. F. Bain, and S. I. Warwick. 1988b. The biology of Canadian weeds. 89. Carduus nutans L. and Carduus acanthoides L. Canad. J. Plant Sci. 68: 10531068.
- Franco, J. do A. 1976. Carduus. In: T. G. Tutin et al., eds. 19641980. Flora Europaea. 5 vols. Cambridge. Vol. 4, pp. 220232.
- Kazmi, S. M. A. 1964. Revision der Gattung Carduus Compositae). Teil II. Mitt. Bot. Staatssaml. München 5: 279550.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.
Identifiers
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 16225314
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 2245335
Footnotes
- David J. Keil "Carduus". in Flora of North America Vol. 19, 20 and 21 Page 57, 66, 83, 91, 96, 97, 122. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
