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Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plant
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
s characterised by leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the plant family Asteraceae
Asteraceae

The family Asteraceae or Compositae is the largest family of flowering plants, in terms of number of species.The name 'Asteraceae' is derived from the type genus Aster , while 'Compositae', an older but still valid name, means composite and refers to the characteristic inflorescence, a special type of pseudanthium found in o...
. Prickles often occur all over the plant - on surfaces such as those of the stem and flat parts of leaves. These are an adaptation
Adaptation

Adaptation is the process, which takes place under natural selection, whereby an organism becomes better suited to its habitat. Also, the term may refer to some characteristic which stands out as being especially significant in the organism's survival....
 to protect the plant against herbivorous animals, discouraging them from feeding on the plant. Typically, an involucre with a clasping shape of a cup or urn subtends each of a thistle's flowerheads.

The term thistle is sometimes taken to mean exactly those plants in the tribe
Tribe (biology)

In biology, a tribe — or infrafamily — is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes....
 Cynareae
Cynareae

The Cynareae are a tribe of flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae. Most of them are commonly known as thistles; four of the best known genera are Carduus, Cynara , Cirsium, and Onopordum....
 (synonym: Cardueae), especially the genera Carduus
Carduus

Carduus is a genus of about 90 species of thistles in the family Asteraceae, native to Europe, Asia and Africa. Carduus is Latin for a thistle....
, Cirsium
Cirsium

Cirsium is a genus of Perennial plant flowering plants in the Asteraceae, one of several genera known popularly as thistles. They are mostly native to Eurasia and northern Africa, with about 60 species from North America ....
, and Onopordum
Onopordum

Onopordum Carolus Linnaeus is a genus of about 40 species of thistles belonging to the family Asteraceae, native to Europe , northern Africa, the Canary Islands, the Caucasus, and southwest and central Asia....
.






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Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plant
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
s characterised by leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the plant family Asteraceae
Asteraceae

The family Asteraceae or Compositae is the largest family of flowering plants, in terms of number of species.The name 'Asteraceae' is derived from the type genus Aster , while 'Compositae', an older but still valid name, means composite and refers to the characteristic inflorescence, a special type of pseudanthium found in o...
. Prickles often occur all over the plant - on surfaces such as those of the stem and flat parts of leaves. These are an adaptation
Adaptation

Adaptation is the process, which takes place under natural selection, whereby an organism becomes better suited to its habitat. Also, the term may refer to some characteristic which stands out as being especially significant in the organism's survival....
 to protect the plant against herbivorous animals, discouraging them from feeding on the plant. Typically, an involucre with a clasping shape of a cup or urn subtends each of a thistle's flowerheads.

The term thistle is sometimes taken to mean exactly those plants in the tribe
Tribe (biology)

In biology, a tribe — or infrafamily — is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes....
 Cynareae
Cynareae

The Cynareae are a tribe of flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae. Most of them are commonly known as thistles; four of the best known genera are Carduus, Cynara , Cirsium, and Onopordum....
 (synonym: Cardueae), especially the genera Carduus
Carduus

Carduus is a genus of about 90 species of thistles in the family Asteraceae, native to Europe, Asia and Africa. Carduus is Latin for a thistle....
, Cirsium
Cirsium

Cirsium is a genus of Perennial plant flowering plants in the Asteraceae, one of several genera known popularly as thistles. They are mostly native to Eurasia and northern Africa, with about 60 species from North America ....
, and Onopordum
Onopordum

Onopordum Carolus Linnaeus is a genus of about 40 species of thistles belonging to the family Asteraceae, native to Europe , northern Africa, the Canary Islands, the Caucasus, and southwest and central Asia....
. However, plants outside this tribe are sometimes called thistles, and if this is done thistles would form a polyphyletic
Polyphyly

A polyphyletic group is one whose members' last common ancestor is not a member of the group.For example, the group consisting of warm-blooded animals is polyphyletic, because it contains both mammals and birds, but the most recent common ancestor of mammals and birds was cold-blooded....
 group.

Taxa

Thistledown 1781
Genera in the Asteraceae with the word thistle often used in their common names include:
  • Arctium – Burdock
    Burdock

    Burdock is any of a group of Biennial plant thistles in the genus Arctium, family Asteraceae. Native to the Old World, several species have been widely introduced worldwide....
  • Carduus
    Carduus

    Carduus is a genus of about 90 species of thistles in the family Asteraceae, native to Europe, Asia and Africa. Carduus is Latin for a thistle....
     – Musk Thistle and others
  • Carlina
    Carlina

    Carlina is a genus of about 30 species of thistles in the family Asteraceae, native to Europe, north Africa and Asia. The highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region, and only one species as far east as China....
     – Carline Thistle
  • Centaurea
    Centaurea

    Centaurea is a genus of at least some 350, if not 500 to 600 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Although the genus' distribution is Holarctic, most are native to the Palaearctic, where the Middle East and surrounding regions are particular species-rich....
     – Star Thistle
  • Cicerbita
    Cicerbita

    Cicerbita is a genus of plants in the Asteraceae family....
     – Sow Thistle
  • Cirsium
    Cirsium

    Cirsium is a genus of Perennial plant flowering plants in the Asteraceae, one of several genera known popularly as thistles. They are mostly native to Eurasia and northern Africa, with about 60 species from North America ....
     – Common Thistle, Field Thistle and others
  • Cnicus
    Cnicus

    Cnicus benedictus , the sole species in the genus Cnicus, is a thistle-like plant in the family Asteraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, from Portugal north to southern France and east to Iran....
     – Blessed Thistle
  • Cynara
    Cynara

    Cynara is a genus of about 10 species of thistle-like perennial plants in the family Asteraceae, originally from the Mediterranean region, northwestern Africa, and the Canary Islands....
     – Artichoke
    Artichoke

    A globe artichoke is a partially edible perennial thistle originating in southern Europe around the Mediterranean.Artichoke may also refer to:...
    s, Cardoon
    Cardoon

    The cardoon , also called the artichoke thistle, cardone, cardoni, carduni or cardi, is a thistle-like plant which is member of the Aster family, Asteraceae; ....
  • Echinops
    Echinops

    Echinops is a genus of about 120 species of thistles in the daisy family Asteraceae, commonly known as globe thistles. They are native to Europe east to central Asia and south to the mountains of tropical Africa....
     – Globethistle
  • Notobasis
    Notobasis

    Notobasis syriaca , synonymy Cirsium syriacum, Cnicus syriacus), the sole species in the genus Notobasis, is a thistle-like plant in the family Asteraceae, native to the Mediterranean region and the Middle East, from Madeira, the Canary Islands, Morocco and Portugal east to Egypt, Iran and Azerbaijan....
     – Syrian thistle
  • Onopordum
    Onopordum

    Onopordum Carolus Linnaeus is a genus of about 40 species of thistles belonging to the family Asteraceae, native to Europe , northern Africa, the Canary Islands, the Caucasus, and southwest and central Asia....
     – Cotton Thistle
    Cotton thistle

    Onopordum acanthium is a flowering plant in the Family Asteraceae. Other common names include, Scotch Thistle, and Scotch Cotton Thistle. Native to Europe, North Africa and Asia, it is a vigorous, Biennial plant with coarse, spiny leaves and conspicuous spiny-winged stems....
    , also known as Scots or Scotch Thistle
  • Scolymus
    Scolymus

    Scolymus is a genus of three species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to the Mediterranean region and western Europe north to northwestern France....
     – Golden Thistle or Oyster Thistle
  • Silybum – Milk Thistle
    Milk thistle

    Milk thistles are thistles of the genus Silybum Adans., flowering plants of the daisy family . They are native to the Mediterranean regions of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East....
  • Sonchus
    Sonchus

    Sow thistles are annual herbs in the genus Sonchus, after their Ancient Greece name. All are characterized by soft, somewhat irregularly lobed leaves that clasp the stem and, at least initially, form a basal rosette....
     – Sow Thistle


Plants in families other than Asteraceae which are sometimes called thistle include:
  • Salsola
    Salsola

    Salsola is a genus of herbs, subshrubs, shrubs, and small trees in the family Chenopodiaceae, native to Africa, Asia, and Europe. Plants in this genus typically grow on flat, often dry and/or somewhat salinity soils, with some species in saltmarshes....
     – Saltwort, Tumbleweed, or Russian Thistle (family Chenopodiaceae
    Chenopodiaceae

    Chenopodiaceae is a family of flowering plants. Although widely recognized in most plant classifications , the APG system and the APG II system have included these plants in the family Amaranthaceae on the basis of evidence from molecular phylogenies....
    )


Heraldry

In the language of flowers
Language of flowers

The language of flowers, sometimes called floriography, was a Victorian era means of communication in which various flowers and floral arrangements were used to send coded messages, allowing individuals to express feelings which otherwise could not be spoken....
, the thistle (like the burr
Burr (fruit)

A burr is a seed or dry fruit in which the seeds bear hooks or teeth which attach themselves to fur or clothing of passing animals or people....
) is an ancient Celtic symbol of nobility of character as well as of birth, for the wounding or provocation of a thistle yields punishment. For this reason the thistle is the symbol of the Order of the Thistle
Order of the Thistle

The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the Order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland who asserted that he was reviving an earlier Order....
, a high chivalric order
Chivalric order

Chivalric orders are orders of knights that were created by European monarchs in imitation of the military orders of the Crusades. After the crusades, the memory of these crusading military orders became idealised and romanticised, resulting in the late medieval notion of chivalry, and is reflected in the Arthurian romances of the time....
 of Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
.

Another story is that a Viking
Viking

A Viking is one of the Norsemen explorers, warriors, merchants, and Piracy who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the late eighth to the early eleventh century....
 attacker stepped on one at night and cried out, so alerting the defenders of a Scottish castle. Whatever the justification, the national flower of Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
 is the thistle. It is found in many Scottish symbols and as the name
Thistle (disambiguation)

Thistle is the common name of a polyphyletic group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp spines or prickles on the margins, mostly in the plant family Asteraceae....
 of several Scottish football
Football in Scotland

Football is one of the most popular Sport in Scotland and is one of the country's national sports. There is a long tradition of "football" games in Orkney, Lewis and southern Scotland, especially the Scottish Borders, although many of these include carrying the ball and passing by hand, and despite bearing the name "football" bear lit...
 clubs. Carnegie Mellon University features the thistle in its crest.

Place names

Carduus is the Latin term for a thistle (hence cardoon
Cardoon

The cardoon , also called the artichoke thistle, cardone, cardoni, carduni or cardi, is a thistle-like plant which is member of the Aster family, Asteraceae; ....
), and Cardonnacum is the Latin word for a place with thistles. This is believed to be the origin of name of the Burgundy village of Chardonnay, Saτne-et-Loire
Chardonnay, Saτne-et-Loire

Chardonnay is the name of a France village located in the Sa?ne-et-Loire Department in the Bourgogne.The name is a derivative of Cardonnacum, a Latin term to denote the land of Cardus, the owner of the land surrounding this village during the end of the Roman period....
, which in turn is thought to be the home of the famous Chardonnay
Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is believed to have originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine to New Zealand wine....
 grape variety.

Ecology

Thistle flowers, along with bugle
Bugle (plant)

Ajuga or Carpet bugle is a genus of about 40?50 species of Annual plant and Perennial plant herbaceous flowering plants in the mint family Lamiaceae, with most species native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, but also two species in southeastern Australia....
 and bramble
Bramble

Bramble refers to thorny plants of the genus Rubus, in the Rose family . Brambles include blackberry, loganberry, and other closely related plants....
s flowers, are favourite nectar sources of the Pearl-bordered Fritillary
Pearl-bordered Fritillary

The Pearl-bordered Fritillary is a butterfly of the Brush-footed butterfly family.It is orange with black spots on the upperside of its wing and has a wingspan of 38?46 mm....
, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

The Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary is a butterfly of the Brush-footed butterfly family. The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago, Illinois is conducting a DNA research experiment on Boloria selene....
, High Brown Fritillary
High Brown Fritillary

The High Brown Fritillary is a butterfly of the Brush-footed butterfly family, native from Europe across mainland Asia to Japan.The adults fly in July/August and lay eggs near to the larval food plants which are species of violets, ....
, and Dark Green Fritillary
Dark Green Fritillary

The Dark Green Fritillary is a butterfly of the Brush-footed butterfly family. It is often seen, on pastures and flowery banks, and nearby areas where the preferred foodplants for the larvae, Viola canina and Viola riviniana, grow....
 butterflies.

Literary references

Hugh MacDiarmid
Hugh MacDiarmid

Hugh MacDiarmid is the pen name of Christopher Murray Grieve , a significant Scotland poet of the 20th century. He was instrumental in creating a Scottish version of modernism and was a leading light in the Scottish Renaissance of the 20th century....
's poem A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle
A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle

A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle is a long poem by Hugh MacDiarmid written in Scots language and published in 1926. It is composed as a form of monologue with influences from stream of consciousness writing#Literature genres of writing....
 is an extended meditation on themes which are in part derived from the position of the plant in secular Scottish iconography
Iconography

Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Ancient Greek e???? and ??afe?? ....
.