Carduus acanthoides L.

Posted byTrajche DimitrovskiPosted inCompositae

Taxonomy: Fam. Compositae// Genus: Carduus// Species: Carduus acanthoides L.

Determined according to the botanical keys provided by Gajić in Josifović (1975) and Verloove, F. (2014). The plants from Osogovo deviate from the concept by Amaral Franco (1976 in Tutin et al.) where the apical spine is said to be up to 5 mm long and heads are sessile.

Lifeform: Biennial plant.

Distribution: Native from Europe to Japan; Libya according to the distribution information provided by the Plants of the World Online portal (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew).

Habitat: Open terrains – pastures, and on somewhat disturbed ground from the lowland up to c. 1500 m altitude.

Flowering period: Summer – fall (AUG, SEP).

Locality: Ponikva. Date: 18.09.2022.

Carduus acanthoides – habit. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – habit. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – habit. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – stem with capitulum. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – stem with capitula. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – stems with capitula. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – stem with capitula. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – stem with capitula. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – stem with capitulum. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – capitulum. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – florets. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – capitulum with involucre. Osogovo – Ponikva, 14.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – involucre of capitulum. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – involucre of capitulum. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – developing capitulum. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – fruiting capitulum with achenes. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – stem with wings. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – stem with wings. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – stem with wings. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – stem with wings and upper cauline leaves. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – stem with wings and middle cauline leaves. Osogovo – Ponikva, 14.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – stem with wings and middle cauline leaves. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – middle cauline leaf. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides -middle cauline leaf. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – stem with cauline leaves. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – lower part of stem with lower cauline leaves. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – lower part of stem with lower cauline leaves. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – lower cauline leaf. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – adaxial side of leaf. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – adaxial side of leaf. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – abaxial side of leaf. Osogovo – Ponikva, 18.09.2022. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.

Locality: hilly region near village Beli. Date: 20.09.2020.

Carduus acanthoides habit in habitat. Hilly region near village Beli, 20.09.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides habit. Hilly region near village Beli, 20.09.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides habit. Hilly region near village Beli, 20.09.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides habit in habitat. Hilly region near village Beli, 20.09.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – flowering stems with capitulums. Hilly region near village Beli, 20.09.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – flowering stems with capitulums. Hilly region near village Beli, 20.09.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – developing capitulums. Hilly region near village Beli, 20.09.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – capitulums. Hilly region near village Beli, 20.09.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – capitulum. Hilly region near village Beli, 20.09.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – capitulum. Hilly region near village Beli, 20.09.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – capitulum. Hilly region near village Beli, 20.09.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – capitulums. Hilly region near village Beli, 20.09.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – fruiting capitulum. Hilly region near village Beli, 20.09.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – fruiting capitulum with achenes. Hilly region near village Beli, 20.09.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides -achenes. Hilly region near village Beli, 20.09.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – winged stems. Hilly region near village Beli, 20.09.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Carduus acanthoides – stems and cauline leaf. Hilly region near village Beli, 20.09.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.

References:

Carduus acanthoides. Greuter, W. 2006+: Compositae (pro parte majore). – In: Greuter, W. & Raab-Straube, E. von, Compositae. Euro+Med PlantBase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Published at https://europlusmed.org/. https://europlusmed.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/bbf27c11-784f-47ff-96b9-44509e43deb3 [Accessed 26.02.2026].

Carduus acanthoides L. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:188363-1 [Accessed 26.02.2026].

do Amaral Franco, J.; key prepared by Rocha Afonso, M.L. 1976. Carduus L. In Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A. (eds.), Flora Europaea. Volume 4. Plantaginaceae to Compositae (and Rubiaceae). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 220–232.

Gajić, M. 1975. Rod Carduus L. In Josifović (ed.). Flora SR Srbije VII. Srpska Akademija Nauka i Umetnosti, Beograd, pp. 186–196.

Verloove, F. (2014). Carduus acanthoides (Asteraceae), a locally invasive alien species in Belgium. Dumortiera 105: 23-28. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262640304_Carduus_acanthoides_Asteraceae_a_locally_invasive_alien_species_in_Belgium [Accessed 02.12.2020].

Last update: 26.02.2026.