WEEDAX Industrial & Agricultural Weed Control for Spear Thistle, Injurious & Invasive Weeds

A biennial which spreads by seed carried in the centre of spherical hairy parachutes during the autumn when they ripen, though most separate just a few feet from the parent and the seeds are carried on foot or are excreted after consumption in fodder. Most germinate in the autumn or the following spring when conditions are suitable, but they can remain dormant for up to three years in the soil. The plant grows at first as a rosette close to the ground with a tap-root and can survive mowing, becoming a monocarpic perennial if the flower spike is prevented from forming.

IDENTIFICATION

Spear Thistle

Mature plants are normally 30-50cm tall, with flowers from July through to October.

Sharply spiny stems. Leaves with spines on upper surface as well as edges.

Involucral bracts (lower part of flowerhead) with yellowish spiny recurved tips.

Flowerheads 20-40mm across, often solitary.

Very common on roadsides, in fields and dry moorland.

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