Photographs: Co. Cork

Spear Thistle Cirsium vulgare Feochadán colgach Family: Asteraceae Flowering time: June-October. Biennial. Native. Deep purple flowers in erect globular flower-heads with prickly green outer bracts. The wavy, deeply pinnate leaves end in sharp prickles and are white-cottony beneath and rough, almost-prickly above. Stout erect stems with spiny wings. Height: 70-150cm. Very common, can be abundant on disturbed ground, grassland, roadsides Similar: Musk Thistle, Carduus nutans. Rare, scattered distribution

Spear Thistle, Cirsium vulgare, Feochadán colgach