SimplePlant

Asteraceae

Spear thistle

Cirsium vulgare (Savi) Ten.

Family
Asteraceae
Genus
Cirsium

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Spear thistle (Cirsium vulgare)
FlowerPhoto: Kieran Roy Powell, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist

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Common names

By language (47)
Arabic
قصوان شائع
Armenian
Տատասկ սովորական
arz
قصوان شائع
Asturian
Cardu gafu
Azerbaijani
Adi qanqal
Basque
Astakardo
Belarusian
Бадзяк звычайны, Дзядоўнік калючы, Чартапалох, Чортапалох
Bulgarian
Обикновена паламида
Catalan
Lloba-carda, Cirse commun
Chinese
翼蓟, 翼薊, 欧洲蓟, 歐洲薊
csb
Lancetowaty kagùlc
cv
Ахаль хытă пиçен
Czech
Pcháč obecný
Danish
Horse-tidsel, Horsetidsel
Dutch
Speerdistel
English
Spear thistle, Bull thistle, Common thistle, Scottish thistle
Estonian
Tuliohakas
Finnish
Piikkiohdake
French
Cirse commun
frr
Prüket fisel
German
Gewöhnliche Kratzdistel, Cirse commun, Gemeine Kratzdistel, Lanzett-Kratzdistel, Lanzettblättrige Kratzdistel, Lanzettkratzdistel
Hebrew
קוצן פשוט
Hungarian
Közönséges aszat, Lándzsás aszat
Indonesian
Waga-waga
Irish
Feochadán colgach
Japanese
アメリカオニアザミ
kw
Marghaskall, Marghaskallen
Latvian
Asais dadzis
Lithuanian
Dygioji usnis, Cirse commun
Macedonian
Обична паламида, Копјеста бодлика, Копјеста паламида, Обична бодлика
Malayalam
സിർസിയം വൾഗറെ
mzn
کنگل
Norwegian Bokmål
Veitistel
Norwegian Nynorsk
Vegtistel
nv
Azeeʼ hókániitsoh
Persian
کنگر, کنگر کوهی
Polish
Ostrożeń lancetowaty
Romanian
Pălămidă, Pălănidă
Russian
Бодяк обыкновенный
Slovak
Pichliač obyčajný
Slovenian
Navadni osat
Swedish
Vägtistel, Bolmtistel, Cirse commun, Horntistel
udm
Льӧльйӧны
Ukrainian
Будяк звичайний, Бодяк звичайний
vep
Bod'ug
Welsh
Marchysgallen
zza
Kengerê heran

Synonyms

  • Ascalea lanceata Hill
  • Ascalea lanceolata (L.) Hill
  • Carduus chinensis DC.
  • Carduus divaricatus Gllib.
  • Carduus firmus Steud.
  • Carduus lanceolatus L.
  • Carduus lanceolatus var. lanceolatus
  • Carduus vulgaris Savi
  • Chamaepeuce firma DC.
  • Cirsium abyssinicum Sch.Bip. ex A.Rich.
  • Cirsium auriculatum E.G.Camus ex Belèze
  • Cirsium balearicum Willk.
  • Cirsium britannicum Scop.
  • Cirsium drijeri Rchb.f.
  • Cirsium firmum (C.Presl) Arcang.
  • Cirsium fraternum DC.
  • Cirsium gerhardtii Sch.Bip.
  • Cirsium godronii Sch.Bip. ex Nyman
  • Cirsium gracile Rostr. ex Nyman
  • Cirsium judicariense Porta ex Petr.
  • Cirsium lanceolatum (L.) Scop.
  • Cirsium lanceolatum subsp. lanceolatum
  • Cirsium lanceolatum subsp. sylvaticum (Tausch) Arènes
  • Cirsium lanceolatum var. abyssinicum (Sch.Bip. ex A.Rich.) Chiov.
  • Cirsium lanceolatum var. hypoleucum DC.
  • Cirsium lanceolatum var. nemorale Nägeli ex K.Koch
  • Cirsium lanceolatum var. rhiphaeum Pau & Font Quer
  • Cirsium lanceolatum var. vulgare Nägeli ex K.Koch
  • Cirsium linkii Nyman
  • Cirsium longespinosum Tod. ex Nyman
  • Cirsium microcephalum Lange
  • Cirsium mielichhoferi Saut.
  • Cirsium pseudolanceolatum Schur
  • Cirsium rosani Ten.
  • Cirsium spurium Delastre
  • Cirsium strigosum (Hoffmanns. & Link) Cout.
  • Cirsium sylvaticum DC.
  • Cirsium tauscheri Simonk. ex Petr.
  • Cirsium tempskyanum Rigo ex Huter
  • Cirsium vulgare f. erdneri Soó

and 11 more.

Flowers

In flower
July to September (from 10,554 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)

Characteristics

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Lifespan
Biennial
In the US and Canada
Alaska: introduced, Canada: introduced, Hawaii: introduced, Lower 48 states: introduced, St. Pierre and Miquelon: introduced

Photos

More in Cirsium

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.