Family: daisy family (Asteraceae)
Flowering time: July–October
Size: 50–150 cm
Habitat: clearings, forest edges, along paths, pastures, rocky and shrubby areas
The erect, branched stem of the common thistle (Cirsium vulgare) has spiny, winged margins. Its pinnately divided stem leaves are rigid. Leaf lobes end in a strong yellowish thorn. Leaves arranged alternately are spiny on the upper side, and somewhat white-woolly-haired on the lower side. Head – the characteristic inflorescence of the Asteraceae on thistles consists only of tubular flowers. Egg-shaped heads at the tops of the shoots are 3 to 5 cm long. The flowers of the common thistle are scarlet, and the green involucral leaves end in a yellowish thorn.
It grows on moist, nitrogen-rich soils in sunny places throughout Slovenia.
