Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Carduus pycnocephalus
Common name
Slender thistle
Family
Asteraceae
Where found
Dry forest, woodland, shrubland, pastures, roadsides, wasteland and cultivation, and rocky sites. Widespread.
Notes
Introduced annual herb to 2 m high, initially forming a basal rosette. Stems grooved, initially cobwebby, sometimes almost hairless, with spiny wings. Wings more or less discontinuous, and broken into spiny lobes to 5 mm wide. Leaves with spiny margins. Flower heads surrounded by spiny bracts. Basal leaves 5–25 cm long, 20–80 mm wide, upper surface green and hairy, lower surface white and cobwebby, deeply dissected. Stem leaves similar, alternating up the stems, 5–15 cm long, 20–70 mm wide. Flower heads cylindrical, to about 20 mm long. Florets 10-17 mm long, purple-pink. Flower heads in clusters of 1-4. Flowering: Oct.–Nov.
Pest plant ACT. Noxious weed Vic.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Carduus~pycnocephalus (accessed 7 January, 2021)
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