Photographs: Barleycove, Co. Cork

Slender Thistle / Seaside Thistle Carduus tenuiflorus Feochadán caol Family: Asteraceae Flowering June - August. Annual or perennial. Native Dense, erect clusters of small, narrow, pale-pinkish flowerheads. Spiny leaves with greyish-cottony undersides on narrowly branched and continuously-winged stems. Height 20-100cm. Most frequent in the eastern half of Ireland on dry, sandy grasslands, waste ground, roadsides and coastal walls. Similar: Welted Thistle, Carduus crispus

Slender Thistle, Carduus tenuiflorus, Feochadán caol