Photographs: Co. Cork

Creeping Thistle Cirsium arvense Feochadán reatha Family: Asteraceae Flowering time: July-September. Perennial. Native. Short-stalked pink-mauve flowers, sometimes white, with spine-tipped bracts. Deeply pinnate, grey-green leaves, the toothed lobes with very prickly margins. Erect un-winged stems from a creeping, spreading rootstock. Height: To 100cm. Common on roadsides, waste ground, grassland and arable land. Similar: Slender Thistle, Carduus tenuiflorus. Mainly E and SE coasts

Creeping Thistle, Cirsium arvense, Feochadán reatha