Cirsium oleraceum

Cirsium oleraceum, the cabbage thistle^[3] or Siberian thistle, is a species of thistle in the genus Cirsium within the family Asteraceae, native to central and eastern Europe and Asia, where it grows in wet lowland soils.^[4]

Cirsium oleraceum
Flowerhead with Tatra Mountains
Painting by C. A. M. Lindman[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Cirsium
Species:	C. oleraceum
Binomial name
Cirsium oleraceum (L.) Scop.
Synonyms[2]
Synonymy Carduus acanthifolius Lam. Carduus oleraceus (L.) Vill. Carduus parviflorus L. Carduus rigens Dryand. ex Aiton Carduus tataricus L. Cirsium braunii Nyman Cirsium flavescens Lam. Cirsium pallens DC. Cirsium parviflorum DC. Cirsium parviflorum Schleich. ex Steud. Cirsium praemorsum W.D.J.Koch Cirsium rigens Spreng. Cirsium subalatum Gaudin Cirsium thomasii Nägeli Cirsium variabile Moench Cnicus oleraceus L. Cynara colorata Stokes

Cirsium oleraceum is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 1.5 m tall, the stems unbranched or with only a very few branches. The leaves are broad and ovoid, with a weakly spiny margin, being pinnatipartite. The flowers are produced in dense flower heads which are 2.5–4 cm diameter, pale yellow, but sometimes tinged pink.^[5]

Its specific epithet oleraceum means "vegetable/herbal" in Latin and is a form of holeraceus (oleraceus).^[6][7]

Distribution

Italian distribution

It is found native throughout Europe, with the exception of Portugal, Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, Crimea, Ciscaucasia, Povolzhye, and the Mediterranean islands. It is found naturalised in the British Isles, Finland, and Central Siberia.^[8] It is also native to West Siberia, the Altai, and Kazakhstan.^[9]

Usage

For cooking: In salads the young stems and leaves are edible, and cultivated for food in Japan and India.

Gallery

• 
  Seedling
• 
  Stem (cross-section)
• 
  Stem (halved)
• 
  Basal leaves
• 
  Stalk leaves
• 
  Bolting
• 
  Flowerheads
• 
  Involucre
• 
  Blooming
• 
  Flower
• 
  Flower (cross-section)