Practical
Plants

Carduus crispus

Welted Thistle

a biennial member of the Carduus genus in the family Compositae.

No photo available

Taxonomy and growth

Genus
Carduus
Life cycle
biennial
Height
0.9 m
Fertility
Bees, Lepidoptera
Flower type
hermaphrodite
Pollinators
Bees, Lepidoptera

Uses

Toxicity

Toxicity warning. The historical record reports a hazard for this plant. Do not use it to decide which parts are safe to eat or use medicinally.

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

The root may be slightly toxic[5].

Edible uses

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Young leaves - cooked[2]. An emergency food, used when all else fails[4].

Plant part
Leaves

Medicinal uses

Historical medicinal uses. These records describe reported uses. They do not establish safety or effectiveness. Ask a qualified health professional before using any plant medicinally.

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

The root is alterative and anodyne[5][7].

Product or use
Alterative
Product or use
Anodyne

Material uses

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

The seed of all species of thistles yields a good oil by expression[9]. No details of potential yields etc are given[K].

Product or use
Oil

Environment

Range
Europe to Asia. A rare casual in Britain[3].
Habitat
Waste ground, cultivated fields and roadsides in Japan[10].
Light
full sun
Shade tolerance
no shade
Water
moderate
Hardiness
Zone 7+
Soil textures
sandy, loamy, clay
Soil pH
acid, neutral, alkaline
Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
No
Drought
intolerant

Propagation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Seed - sow spring in situ.

Cultivation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Succeeds in a sunny position in ordinary garden soil[1][6]. This species is closely related to C. acanthoides[3].

References

  1. F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951-00-00

    ↩

  2. Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976-00-00

    ↩

  3. Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962-00-00

    ↩1↩2

  4. Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984-00-00 ISBN 3874292169

    ↩

  5. Stuart. Rev. G. A. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre

    ↩1↩2

  6. Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5

    ↩

  7. Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985-00-00 ISBN 0-917256-20-4

    ↩

  8. Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970-00-00 ISBN 0-486-22642-5

  9. Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984-00-00 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9

    ↩

  10. Ohwi. G. Flora of Japan. (English translation) Smithsonian Institution 1965-00-00

    ↩

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