Blue- and Purple-flowered Thistles & Knapweeds

Daisy Family - Asteraceae

See also thistles and knapweeds with yellow flowers.

Corymbose Distaff Thistle Cardopatium corymbosum

Native to the eastern Mediterranean Region from Italy to the Middle East. Typically a plant of open, stony ground, often in full sun.


Flowers	Flowers	Flowers

Early leaves	Developing flowerhead	Developing flowerhead	Leaf detail

Spiny Globe-thistle Echinops spinosissimus

Native to the southern Mediterranean Region and the Middle East. Occasional on rough or disturbed ground.


Habit	Habit	Flowerhead	Leaves

Cage Thistle Atractylis cancellata

Native from Macaronesia eastwards through the Mediterranean Region to the Arabian Peninsula and Pakistan. Occasional in stony places.


Early flowerhead	Early flowerhead	Leaf detail

Taurian Cotton Thistle Onopordum tauricum

Native throughout southern Europe, eastwards to the Black Sea region and Turkey. Whole plant green, with glandular and non-glandular hairs.


Habit	Habit	Early flowerhead	Flowerhead

Flowerhead	Flowerhead	Leaf detail	Stem detail

Illyrian Cotton Thistle Onopordum illyricum

Native throughout southern Europe, eastwards to the Middle East and Iran. Whole plant covered in greyish, felty hairs.


Flowerhead	Leaf detail	Stem detail

Southern False Saw-wort Crupina crupinastrum

Native throughout southern Europe and into Asia Minor. Frequent in stony places.


Habit	Flowerhead	Flowerhead	Phyllaries

Leaf	Leaf	Leaf detail

Spiny Knapweed Centaurea spinosa

Native to Greece and Western Turkey. Abundant on dry, rocky slopes, especially on the west side of the island and along the landward side of coastal dunes and beaches. Along with Spiny Burnet, this species forms a major habitat type of low, spiny frigana.


Habit	Habit	Habit

Stems and spines	Leaves	Spines

Common Cornflower Centaurea cyanus

Native from the Central Mediterranean Region eastwards to Turkey and the Levant, but widely introduced as an annual of arable crops throughout much of the world.


Habit	Habit

Basal leaves	Stem leaves

Urville's Knapweed Centaurea urvillei

Native to the Eastern Aegean Islands, through Turkey to northern Iran. Widespread in dry habitats, especially in rocky places and open conifer woods. Forms a low, leafy rosette with the spiny-bracted flowers appearing at the centre.


Habit	Habit	Flowerhead	Flowerhead

Spiny phyllaries	Young phyllaries	Leaves	Leaves

Shrubby Feather-thistle Ptilostemon chamaepeuce

Native to the eastern Mediterranean, usually on well-drained slopes on steeper roadside banks or cliffs.


Habit	Habit	Flowerhead	Flowerhead

Phyllaries	Leaves

Milk Thistle Silybum marianum

Native throughout much of Europe, North Africa and eastward to India. Widely established as an introduction elsewhere.


Habit	Habit	Flowerhead	Flowerhead

Phyllaries	Leaf	Basal leaves

Syrian Thistle Notobasis syriaca

Native to throughout the Mediterranean Region to the Middle East and Arabian Peninsula. The lance-like, leafy bracts surrounding the flowerheads are very distinctive in this species.


Habit	Habit	Flowerheads	Flowerhead

Flowerhead	Phyllaries	Lower leaf	Upper leaf

Picnomon Picnomon acana

Native through the Mediterranean Region and eastwards to western Asia. Frequent in stony places.


Habit	Flowerhead	Flowerhead	Phyllaries

Spear Thistle Cirsium vulgare

Native and often abundant throughout Europe, the Mediterranean and Middle East, eastwards to Northern and Central Asia. A strong-growing, stout and often multi-branched species with long, stout spines. Flowerheads large and form perhaps the 'classic' thistle. Phyllaries curved and spreading, with long, sharp, spiny tips.