Asteraceae
Melancholy thistle
Cirsium helenioides
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Genus
- Cirsium
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Common names
By language (5)
- Chinese
- 堆心蓟
- English
- Melancholy thistle
- Finnish
- Huopaohdake
- Irish
- Cluasán fia
- Slovenian
- Raznolistni osat
Synonyms
- Carduus helenioides L.
- Cirsium helenioides var. altaicum Lomon.
- Cirsium helenioides var. helenioides
- Cirsium heterophylloides Pavlov
- Cirsium heterophyllum subsp. angarense Popov
- Cirsium heterophyllum var. angarense Popov
- Cirsium heterophyllum var. obskiense Lomon.
- Cirsium inuloides Rchb.
- Cnicus helenioides (L.) Willd.
- Cnicus helenioides (L.) Retz.
Flowers
- In flower
- June to August (from 583 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)
Characteristics
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- In the US and Canada
- Greenland: native
Photos
Photo: Anneli Salo, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Thommybe assumed, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Matti Virtala, CC0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Meneerke bloem, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Meneerke bloem, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Meneerke bloem, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Meneerke bloem, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
More in Cirsium
- Creeping thistleCirsium arvenseAsteraceae
- Spear thistleCirsium vulgareAsteraceae
- Marsh thistleCirsium palustreAsteraceae
- Cabbage thistleCirsium oleraceumAsteraceae
- Dwarf thistleCirsium acauleAsteraceae
- Woolly thistleCirsium eriophorumAsteraceae
- Melancholy thistleCirsium heterophyllumAsteraceae
- Cirsium rivulareAsteraceae
- Meadow thistleCirsium dissectumAsteraceae
- Yellow melancholy thistleCirsium erisithalesAsteraceae
- Cirsium spinosissimumAsteraceae
- Cirsium tuberosumAsteraceae
Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.