Spear thistle
Cirsium vulgare (Savi) Tenore [Asteraceae]
Amerika-oni-azami (アメリカオニアザミ, 亜米利加鬼薊)
Life form: biennial forb, forming rosettes
Origin: native throughout Europe and norhtern Africa (extotic to Japan)
So, Japanese common name is a little bit strange, becauase 'Amerika' means America.
Habitat: ruderal (but now we can see it on various barelands, e.g., volcanoes and over-grazed fields, in Hokkaido)
Seed: 5 mm long, with a pappus → wind dispersal
Synonyms
C. lanceolatum (L.) Scop., non Hill
Cirsium vulgare in Hokkaido
[Left] A whole plant. [Center] Close-up of flowers. [L/C] At a parking lot along a radoside at East Ward (N24/E1) in the city of Sapporo on July 19 2009. [Right] in a grassland on Nakajima Island on July 21 2005. This species becomes dominant due to the low palatability of deer.
References
- Cirsium oligophyllum
- Field training on integrated environmental research 統合環境調査法実習
fauna and flora 出現種リスト - Tsuyuzaki, S. & Takahashi, H. 2007. Pits conserve species diversity in an overgrazed grassland. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research 5: 25-36