Young tubular flower of the spear thistle. The Walsingham Farm, Port Alfred, Eastern Cape, South Africa (2024). Also called Scottish thistle or bull thistle. A spiny, herbaceous, biennial plant, with a large basal rosette of leaves, a deep taproot, and a flowering stem growing from the center of the rosette up to 1.5 m high.… Continue reading Spear thistle (Cirsium vulgare)
Tag: Scottish thistle
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)
Painted Lady feeding on a nodding thistle on the farm. The Walsingham Farm, Port Alfred, Eastern Cape, South Africa (2024). Formerly known as Acraea acara subsp. acara but revised by Williams & Henning (2023). Male and female. Upperside. Ground-colour reddish-ochreous, basal areas olivescent-ochreous-brown. Cilia black, alternated with white. Forewing with an outwardly-oblique black irregular-shaped broken… Continue reading Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)
Spear thistle (Cirsium vulgare)
Young tubular flower of the spear thistle. The Walsingham Farm, Port Alfred, Eastern Cape (2024). Also called Scottish thistle or bull thistle. A spiny, herbaceous, biennial plant, with a large basal rosette of leaves, a deep taproot, and a flowering stem growing from the center of the rosette up to 1.5 m high. Stems have… Continue reading Spear thistle (Cirsium vulgare)
