Cirsium palustre, SE: Kärrtistel, DE: Sumpf-Kratzdistel,
NL: Kale jonker, UK: Marsh Thistle

Scientific name:  Cirsium palustre (L.) Scop.
Synonym name:  Cnicus palustris (L.) Willd.
Swedish name:  Kärrtistel
German name:  Sumpf-Kratzdistel
Nederlandse naam:  Kale jonker
English name:  Marsh Thistle
Family:  Asteraceae - Compositae, Aster family, Korgblommiga växter

Vilda Blommor i Sverige

Life form:  Biennial
Stems:  Height 60-120 cm, erect, slender, ribbed; spiny-winged
Leaves:  Rosette; basal and lower stem leaves are narrowly elliptic; with spiny edges but not spiny on leaf surface
Inflorescence:  Flowerheads clustered at ends of stems and branches
Flowers:  Deep purple or white, flower-heads somewhat cottony and nearly globular, 15-20 mm across, stalkless and in clusters; involucral bracts erect, pointed, lanceolate and tipped with purple or black; florets all tubular
Flowering Period:  July, August
Fruits:  Cypsela, surrounded by pappus, 2.5-3.5 mm long
Habitat:  Moorland, marshes, roadsides, croft land
Distribution:  Throughout the country

Cirsium palustre, Kärrtistel, Sumpf-Kratzdistel, Kale jonker, Marsh Thistle


Derivation of the botanical name:
Cirsium, from the Greek word kirsos, "swollen vein". Thistles were used as a remedy against swollen veins.
palustre, Palus, pool; growing in marshes.
  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.

Sweden Travel Outdoors Nature Wildflowers



Cirsium palustre, Kärrtistel, Sumpf-Kratzdistel, Kale jonker, Marsh Thistle



Sweden Wildflowers and native plants