Spear Thistle (Cirsium vulgare) (Nox)

Scientific name:	Cirsium vulgare (Savi) Ten	Spear Thistle plants
Common name:	Spear thistle, Black thistle
Status:	Regionally Controlled in the Port Phillip & Westernport (East and West), North East, West Gippsland and East Gippsland CMAs. Restricted in the Mallee, North Central, Wimmera, Glenelg-Hopkins, Corangamite and Goulburn Broken CMAs.
Habitat:	Subhumid to cool-temperate regions where it grows well on exposed moderately warm sites up to subalpine levels, usually on the more fertile soils (Parsons and Cuthbertson 1992). It prefers heavy soils of reasonable fertility and grows well under irrigation (Parsons and Cuthbertson 1992). It occurs as a weed in a wide range of environments particularly annual pastures and neglected areas (Parsons and Cuthbertson 1992). Spear thistle invades dry coastal vegetation, heathland and heathy woodland, lowland grassland and grassy woodland, dry sclerophyll forest and woodland, damp sclerophyll forest, wet sclerophyll forest, riparian vegetation, freshwater wetland (seasonal), saline and sub-saline wetland, rock outcrop vegetation, warm temperate rainforest, cool temperate rainforest and alpine and subalpine vegetation (Carr et al 1992).

Spear Thistle Flower

Spear Thistle Rosette