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Melancholy Thistle / Raznolistni osjak
Cirsium heterophyllum
45.7858, 15.9552
Field Notes
Description:
It is an erect spineless herb, unusually for a thistle. The plant grows 45 - 120 cm tall, and forms runners. The stem is grooved, more-or-less branchless, and cottony. The leaves are green and hairless above, thick white felted underneath. The base leaves are lanceolate with stalks and softly prickly edges, and grow from 20 - 40 cm long, and from 4 - 8 cm wide. The upper leaves do not have stalks, clasping the stem with cordate (heart-shaped) bases. The flower heads are 3 - 5 cm long and wide, red-purple in color, and appear from July to August.
Habitat:
It is found in Europe. It grows in upland meadows, grasslands, roads and open woods.
Notes:
The plant was considered a possible cure for sadness. Nicholas Culpepper in 1669 said that it "makes a man as merry as a cricket".
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