Cirsium heterophyllum (L.) Hill

About

Melancholy thistle is an unusual, almost friendly thistle, an erect perennial that is essentially spineless and so easy to grow alongside. It spreads slowly by creeping underground runners and reaches around 45-120cm. The undivided leaves are dark green above and strikingly white-felted beneath, and each stem typically carries a single large red-purple flowerhead that nods slightly before opening, giving the plant its wistful name.

In Britain it is a native of the uplands, most at home in northern England, Scotland and north Wales, where it grows in traditionally managed hay meadows, damp base-rich grassland, stream banks, verges and open woodland, often well above the lowlands. It flowers in July and August, offering nectar and pollen to bumblebees, butterflies and other insects. For gardeners and meadow-makers on cooler, moister, neutral to base-rich ground it makes a handsome and well-behaved native, valued for upland meadow restoration and informal borders alike.

Synonyms

Carduus ambiguus · Carduus helenifolius · Carduus helenioides · Carduus heterophyllus · Carduus polymorphus · Carduus pumilus · Cirsium helenioides · Cirsium heterophyllum diversifolium · Cirsium heterophyllum heterophyllum · Cirsium heterophyllum incisum · Cirsium heterophyllum integrifolium