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Tag Archives: thistle

Wild word: sessile

07 Sunday Aug 2022

Posted by sconzani in plants, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, Cirsium acaule, Dwarf thistle, sessile, thistle, thistle species

Sessile: adjective; Botany zoology (of a plant or animal structure) attached directly by its base without a stalk or peduncle (Oxford Dictionary).
Dwarf thistles (Cirsium acaule) are also known as Stemless thistles and are a good example of a sessile plant. The only local patch of Dwarf thistles I know is flourishing this year, as their preference is for ‘dry grassy habitats’ on ‘calcareous soils’ (Naturespot website).

220807 dwarf thistles

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Variations in pink and white

15 Sunday Aug 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, colour variation in flowers, Common centaury, knapweed, thistle, Yarrow

It fascinates me how many wildflowers vary from their standard colours, often changing from pink to white and vice versa. Here we have Centaury, usually pink but also commonly seen with white flowers; Knapweed, also usually a pinkish lilac, but I occasionally see a white variant; Thistles that are also usually pinky lilac but often flowering white hereabouts; and the usually white Yarrow, which I find growing with quite pink flowers in a local field.

210815 Centaury pink
210815 centaury white

210815 Knapweed pink210815 knapweed white

210815 thistle pink
210815 thistle white

210815 yarrow pink210815 yarrow white

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In praise of thistles

25 Sunday Jul 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, butterflies on thistles, flowering thistles, insects on thistles, thistle

Butterfly larvae and various beetles feed on their leaves; scores of insect species feast on their nectar and pollen; the stems of the plants are home to various over-wintering insect larvae; and, when the flowers are finished, birds like Goldfinches, Linnets and Siskin feed on their seeds. The plants I’m describing are the various species of the much maligned thistle family. Despite the derision of some farmers and the ‘neat-and-tidy’ brigade of gardeners, thistles are superb plants for wildlife, and I also think their flowers are rather beautiful.

During recent walks I’ve been capturing images of some of the creatures I’ve seen enjoying the bounty of these wild beauties: Comma, Large skipper, Marmalade hoverfly, Meadow brown, Red admiral, Red soldier beetle, Red-tailed bumblebee, Ringlet, Scorpion fly, Six-spot burnet, Small copper, Small skipper, and White-tailed bumblebee.

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361/366 Fave flower

26 Saturday Dec 2020

Posted by sconzani in plants, wildflowers

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British flora, British wildflowers, Carduus nutans, Musk thistle, thistle

For the next few days, in the countdown to year end, I’m going to go through some of my 2020 highlights: special wildlife moments, favourite finds, best photos.

It’s difficult to choose a favourite wildflower – there are so many crackers! – but a group I confess I’m quite partial to are the thistles: Creeping and Spear are very common hereabouts, Dwarf and Carline can be found at local country parks and reserves, and this year I identified my first Musk thistles (Carduus nutans). The photo below shows one such in bud; the open flowers in all their glory can be seen in my blog Musk thistle, July 2020.

201226 musk thistle

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214/366 Butterfly eggs

01 Saturday Aug 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, plants

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British butterflies, butterfly, butterfly egg, Common blue butterfly, Common blue butterfly egg, Painted Lady, Painted lady egg, thistle

This Painted lady is only the fourth individual I’ve seen this year but she was by far the best, not because of her appearance, which is a little ragged around the edges, but because she was laying eggs … and I’d never seen a Painted lady egg before.

200801 painted lady

At just 0.65mm high, the egg is tiny and, in my reference book, it’s described as green but, to my eye, this one is more of a pale turquoise – the plant stem is green. And the plant is a thistle – Creeping thistle, I think, though it was a young plant with no flowers, which makes it harder for me to identify but probably more nourishing for the teeny tiny caterpillar to munch on when it emerges. Now if I can only find this exact plant again in approximately a week’s time …

200801 painted lady egg (1)
200801 painted lady egg (2)

And following hot on the heels of finding that Painted lady egg, today I spotted a female Common blue butterfly laying her eggs in a sheltered clearing. You can perhaps see in the photo how she is angling her body to deposit an egg underneath the foliage.

200801 Common blue egg laying

So, once again, I was able to find the newly laid egg and take some photos. According to my book, these eggs are usually 0.5mm in diameter and just 0.25mm high, so really tiny. I have no chance of finding this egg again but I’m really glad I had the chance to see it.

200801 common blue egg (1)
200801 common blue egg (2)

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204/366 Musk thistle

22 Wednesday Jul 2020

Posted by sconzani in nature, plants, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, Carduus nutans, Musk thistle, Nodding thistle, thistle

This gorgeous thistle was a new plant for me when I discovered it in a local farm field a couple of days ago. It’s a Musk thistle (Carduus nutans), also known as Nodding thistle, and it’s precisely the nodding habit of its growth that alerted me to something new.

200722 musk thistle (1)

Its flowers, though a glorious and vibrant pinky purple, droop downwards, nodding on long spineless stems and, in fact, compared to the upright habit of other thistles I see, this one’s growth habit overall is very droopy. It’s a bit of a sloucher, though, as its name suggests, those flowers have a musky smell that bees find particularly attractive, and several butterflies seemed to like it too.

200722 musk thistle (2)

The Plantlife website provides some interesting facts about the Musk thistle: apparently ‘its fleshy stem is edible and said to be delicious after peeling and boiling’ and ‘medicinally, the leaves have been used as a tonic to stimulate liver function, whereas the flowers have been used to reduce fevers and purify the blood.’

200722 musk thistle (3)

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190/366 For the love of thistles

08 Wednesday Jul 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, plants, wildflowers

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

British insects, Cirsium arvense, Creeping thistle, insects on thistles, thistle

Many people would consider the thistle – any thistle, all thistles – to be a weed but one look at these photos will show just what a diverse range of insects find the humble thistle an essential source of food. From flies and hoverflies, bees and wasps, to beetles and butterflies, the Creeping thistle (Cirsium arvense) is a favourite of them all. And when the flowers are finished, it will be the turn of the birds to find nourishment in the thistle seeds. What an amazing wildflower this is!

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225/365 Carline thistle

13 Tuesday Aug 2019

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, Carlina vulgaris, Carline thistle, thistle

190813 carline thistle

The Carline thistle (Carlina vulgaris): in the summer months it looks like an everlasting flower; in the autumn it glistens silver and gold.

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199/365 Short and prickly

18 Thursday Jul 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, nature, plants, wildflowers

≈ 3 Comments

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#365DaysWild, British flora, Cirsium acaule, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Dwarf thistle, thistle, wildflowers

During today’s walk around Cosmeston I spotted a plant I’ve not seen before – or, at least, I’ve not consciously noticed before. It’s so easy to just walk over the things growing under your feet – although, in this case, if you were walking barefoot you couldn’t help but notice it!

190718 dwarf thistle (1)

It’s the Dwarf thistle (Cirsium acaule), and it’s easily identifiable as its single flower almost completely lacks a stem – the gorgeous purple flower sits right on top of a rosette of wavy and spiny edged leaves.

190718 dwarf thistle (4)
190718 dwarf thistle (2)

This thistle prefers to grow in low grasslands, particularly on calcareous soils, so it does tend to be quite localised but can be found in England as far north as Yorkshire and in south Wales.

190718 dwarf thistle (3)

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Glistening silver and gold

22 Thursday Nov 2018

Posted by sconzani in autumn, flowers, nature, wildflowers

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

British flora, Carlina vulgaris, Carline thistle, everlasting flowers, seedheads, seeds, thistle, thistle seeds

181122 carline thistle (2)

They glisten silver and gold in the late autumn sunshine these Carline thistles, with their thick fringe of papery bracts and heads of soft golden down. I blogged about the flowers last year; now here are the ‘everlasting’ seed heads that can be seen all through the chilly months of winter.

181122 carline thistle (1)

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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