Creeping Thistle

Cirsium arvense
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Tribe:	Cynareae
Genus:	Cirsium
Species:	C. arvense
Binomial name
Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop.
Synonyms
Synonymy Breea arvensis (L.) Less. Breea dioica (Cass.) Less. Breea ochrolepidia (Juz.) Soják Breea praealta Less. Breea setosa (Willd.) Soják Carduus arvensis (L.) Robson Carduus haemorrhoidalis Auct. ex DC. Carduus neglectus Steud. Carduus segetum (Bunge) Franch. Carduus serratuloides Neck. Carduus setosus Bab. Cephalonoplos arvense (L.) Fourr. Cephalonoplos arvensis (L.) Fourr. Cephalonoplos ochrolepidium (Juz.) Juz. Cephalonoplos segetum (Bunge) Kitam. Cephalonoplos setosus (Ledeb.) Kitam. Cirsium albicans Willk. Cirsium albiflorum (Kitag.) Kitag. Cirsium argenteum Peyer ex Vest Cirsium argunense DC. Cirsium celakovskianum Knaf Cirsium dioicum Cass. Cirsium halophilum Turcz. ex Herder Cirsium horridum (Wimm. & Grab.) Stankov Cirsium incanum (S.G.Gmel.) Fisch. ex M.Bieb. Cirsium laevigatum Tausch Cirsium macrostylon (Moretti) Rchb. Cirsium mutatum Menyh. Cirsium neglectum Fisch. ex Spreng. Cirsium ochrolepidium Juz. Cirsium praealtum Cass. Cirsium ruthenicum Fisch. Cirsium setosum (Willd.) Besser ex M.Bieb. Cirsium sordidum Wallr. Cirsium stocksii Boiss. Cnicus arvensis (L.) Hoffm. Cnicus lanatus Willd. Cnicus macrostylus Moretti Cnicus neglectus Parish ex Greene Cnicus ruthenicus J.Henning Cnicus setosus (Willd.) Besser Cynara repens Stokes Serratula arvensis L. Serratula incana S.G.Gmel. Serratula setosa Willd.

Cirsium arvense is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae, native throughout Europe and northern Asia, and widely introduced elsewhere. The standard English name in its native area is creeping thistle.

A number of other names are used in other areas or have been used in the past, including: Canada thistle, Canadian thistle, lettuce from hell thistle, California thistle, corn thistle, cursed thistle, field thistle, green thistle, hard thistle, perennial thistle, prickly thistle, small-flowered thistle, way thistle and stinger-needles. The first two names are in wide use in the United States, despite being a misleading designation (it is not of Canadian origin) and the last name a common term used in Newfoundland, Canada.

As a subclassification of the "Eudicot" monophyletic group, Cirsium is a "true dicotyledon". The number of Pollen grain furrows or pores helps classify the flowering plants, with eudicots having three colpi (tricolpate).

C. arvense is a C3 carbon fixation plant. The C3 plants, originated during Mesozoic and Paleozoic eras, and tend to thrive in areas where sunlight intensity is moderate, temperatures are moderate, and ground water is plentiful. C₃ plants lose 97% of the water taken up through their roots to transpiration.

Creeping thistle is a herbaceous perennial plant growing up to 150 cm, forming extensive clonal colonies from thickened roots that send up numerous erect shoots during the growing season. It is a ruderal species.

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Wikipedia