Common donkey thistle

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Common donkey thistle
Common donkey thistle (Onopordum acanthium)

Common donkey thistle ( Onopordum acanthium )

Systematics
Order : Astern-like (Asterales)
Family : Daisy family (Asteraceae)
Subfamily : Carduoideae
Tribe : Cardueae
Genre : Donkey thistle ( Onopordum )
Type : Common donkey thistle
Scientific name
Onopordum acanthium
L.

The Common thistle ( Onopordum acanthium ), also Cotton Thistle , cancer thistle , Cotton thistle or spasm thistle called, is a species of the genus onopordum ( Onopordum ) in the subfamily of Carduoideae within the family of Compositae (Asteraceae).

description

Habit in the first year
Habit in the second year
Illustration from storm
Achenes with pappus

Vegetative characteristics

The common donkey thistle is a biennial herbaceous plant : a rosette of leaves is formed in the first year . In the second year it grows to impressive heights of 0.5 to 3 meters and plant diameters of 1.5 meters. It is covered with thick cobweb hair.

The leaves, which are over 1 meter long, are egg-shaped, toothed or pinnate, wavy and thorny. Their broad, sloping edges form thorny wings on the stem.

Generative characteristics

The terminal flower heads are spherical and relatively large with a diameter of over 5 centimeters. They are surrounded by thorny bracts. There are only tubular flowers that are purple in color. After blooming, the flower heads swell and produce 8,500 to 40,000 achenes .

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 34.

ecology

The common donkey thistle is a two-year-old hemicryptophyte and forms a leaf rosette with deep roots in the first year. The above-ground parts of the plant appear densely gray-white felted due to total reflection of the light.

The leaf wings of the stems serve to stabilize the large plant in a storm and also to drain water directly into the root area. The thorns keep the ungulates from eating. All of these features can be interpreted as xerophytic adaptations to dry locations.

The flowering period extends from July to August. The flowers belong to the "basket flower type". Because of the up to 12 mm long corolla tube, only long-nosed visitors can get to the nectar . The up to 5 mm long stylus branches do not spread, but turn only their papillae-covered outer edges to maturity. This different behavior of an asteracea leads to less evaporation in the scar area.

In addition to bee relatives, wasps and butterflies, flower visitors are also hoverflies , which collect pollen from the anthers protruding from the corolla.

The fruits are oil-rich achenes , they carry a few-row, feathery and hygroscopic (only spreading in dry conditions) pappus and therefore spread as umbrella fliers. In addition, adhesion spreading takes place in damp weather, as well as spreading by ants and spreading as culture fleeing by humans. The seeds are long-lived, so they can germinate for many years.

Occurrence

The common donkey thistle comes from sub-Mediterranean, continental areas in Europe and Asia Minor (Mediterranean countries, Asian regions of Russia) and, in addition to its countries of origin, occurs sporadically throughout Europe. In the United States, the ( invasive ) plant introduced there is considered a weed .

It prefers dry summers on sandy loam and limestone soils . So it comes in Germany and neighboring countries as a ruderal plant z. B. on the wayside (hence "Wegdistel" in Dutch), on traffic islands, dry meadows and fields. In parts of its habitat it is an endangered plant. Temperature and humidity rather than the abundance of nutrients in the soil determine the economic performance of this plant species.

After Ellenberg it is a full light plant, a heat pointer subcontinental spread a Schwachsäure- to weak base pointer, an outspoken nitrogen pointer, and a dressing characteristic species heat-seeking thistle companies. After Oberdorfer is a characteristic species of Onopordetum acanthii (the Thistle Corridor, a heat-loving plant sociology association soil dry habitats from the Onopordion - Association ).

Systematics

Onopordum acanthium was first published in 1753 by Carl von Linné in Species Plantarum . The scientific name Onopordum acanthium means "thorny donkey flatulence", derived from the effect this plant species has on donkeys.

There are few subspecies depending on the author:

  • Onopordum acanthium L. subsp. acanthium
  • Onopordum acanthium subsp. ceretanum (Sennen) Arènes : It occurs only in France.
  • Onopordum acanthium subsp. gautieri (Rouy) Bonnier (Syn .: Onopordum gautieri Rouy ): It used to occur in France.
  • Onopordum acanthium subsp. gypsicola G. González & al. : It only occurs in Spain.

use

Some parts of the plant would be usable for humans if necessary, such as B. the flower heads and their bases are artichoke-like vegetables, the stems (peeled) such as asparagus or rhubarb are boiled in water. The seeds (25% oil) can be pressed into edible oil (also suitable for lamps).

The flowers contain onopordopicrin , flavone glycosides and tannins . The cardiotonic effect attributed to the drug is questionable, at least more recent studies are not available.

history

This thistle, in Scotland "Scottish Thistle" ("Scotch / Scottish Thistle") or "Cotton Thistle" because of the (tree) wool-like seed (hence also Swedish. "Ulltistel" - "wool thistle") is called coat of arms of Scotland and the Stewarts since the 13th century ; According to legend, a nighttime surprise attack by barefoot Vikings was discovered by the stinging thorns of the donkey thistle and was finally repelled. The Order of the Thistle ( Order of the Thistle ) is Scotland's oldest and highest order.

The donkey thistle adorns the reverse of the 1 pound coins, which were minted in 1984 and 1989, and the reverse of the 5 pence coin from 1968 to 2008.

photos

  • Flower baskets before blooming, at the end here narrow, prickly winged stem

  • Flower head, fully bloomed; below hemispherical the prickly bracts

  • Foliage leaf, densely hairy white tomentose, on stem sections that are broadly winged here

swell

literature

  • Wolfgang Frey, Andrea Hauser: Onopordetum acanthii (Donkey Thistle Society) in the middle and lower Unstrut Valley : Life strategies in a warmth-loving ruderal society . In: Haussknechtia. Booklet. Volume 6, 1996, 84 pp.
  • Margot Spohn, Marianne Golte-Bechtle: What is blooming there? The encyclopedia: over 1000 flowering plants from Central Europe. Kosmos, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-440-10326-9 .
  • Hans Braun (first), Dietrich Frohne: Medicinal Plant Lexicon : a guide on a scientific basis. 7th edition. Scientific publishing house, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-8047-1897-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Onopordum acanthium L., Common donkey thistle. In: FloraWeb.de.
  2. ↑ a b Common donkey thistle . In: BiolFlor, the database of biological-ecological characteristics of the flora of Germany.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h Ruprecht Düll , Herfried Kutzelnigg : Pocket dictionary of plants in Germany. A botanical-ecological excursion companion to the most important species . 6th, completely revised edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2005, ISBN 3-494-01397-7 , p.  332-333 .
  4. ↑ a b Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp.  967-968 .
  5. ^ MP Austin, RH Groves, LMF Fresco, PE Kaye: Relative growth of six thistle species along a nutrient gradient with multispecies competition . In: Journal of Ecology . tape 73 , no. 2 , 1985, pp. 667-684 , JSTOR : 2260503 .
  6. ↑ Heinz Ellenberg : Vegetation of Central Europe with the Alps in an ecological, dynamic and historical perspective (=  UTB for science. Large series . Volume  8104 ). 5th, heavily changed and improved edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1996, ISBN 3-8252-8104-3 .
  7. ↑ Carl von Linné: Species Plantarum. Volume 2, Lars Salvius, Stockholm 1753, p. 827 ( digitized versionhttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.biodiversitylibrary.org%2Fopenurl%3Fpid%3Dtitle%3A669%26volume%3D2%26issue%3D%26spage%3D827%26date%3D1753~GB%3D~ IA% 3D ~ MDZ% 3D% 0A ~ SZ% 3D ~ double-sided% 3D ~ LT% 3D ~ PUR% 3D ).
  8. ↑ a b c d Werner Greuter (2006+): Compositae (pro parte majore). In: Werner Greuter, E. von Raab-Straube (ed.): Compositae. : Data sheet Onopordum acanthium. In: Euro + Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity.

further reading

Scientific texts in English and French

  • KG Beck: Biennial thistles. In: RL Sheley, JK Petroff (Eds.): Biology and Management of Noxious Rangeland Weeds. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, Oregon 1999, ISBN 0-87071-461-9 , pp. 145-161.
  • RH Callihan, TW Miller: Idaho's Noxious Weeds. Scotch thistle. 1998, accessed December 6, 2011.
  • J. Davison, I. Hackett: Scotch thistle control in Nevada. Fact sheet - College of Agriculture, University of Nevada-Reno Cooperative Extension 1986.
  • Muad Grieve: A Modern Herbal: The Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-Lore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs & Trees with Their Modern Scientific Uses. Dover Publications, Inc., New York 1971.
  • JF Hooper, JA Young, RA Evans: Economic evaluation of Scotch thistle suppression . In: Weed Science. Volume 18, No. 5, 1970, pp. 583-586 ( JSTOR 4041880 ).
  • Ladislav Mucina: Syntaxonomy of the Onopordum acanthium communities in temperate and continental Europe. In: Vegetatio. Volume 81, No. 1-2, 1989, pp. 107-115, DOI: 10.1007 / BF00045516 .
  • HA Roberts, RJ Chancellor: Periodicity of seedling emergence and achene survival in some species of Carduus, Cirsium, and Onopordum. In: Journal of Applied Ecology. Volume 16, No. 2, 1979, pp. 641-647 ( JSTOR 2402538 ).
  • A. Vezina, MM Grandtner: Nouvelle station d'Onopordum acanthium L. au Québec. In: Le Naturaliste Canadien. Volume 107, 1980, pp. 45-47.

Web links

Commons : Common Donkey Thistle ( Onopordum acanthium )  - album containing pictures, videos and audio files