
{"id":20220,"date":"2011-08-11T14:49:44","date_gmt":"2011-08-11T18:49:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=20220"},"modified":"2011-08-15T11:53:24","modified_gmt":"2011-08-15T15:53:24","slug":"flora-here%e2%80%99s-a-flower-you-won%e2%80%99t-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2011\/08\/11\/flora-here%e2%80%99s-a-flower-you-won%e2%80%99t-pick\/","title":{"rendered":"FLORA: Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a flower you won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pick!"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_20221\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20221\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2011\/08\/11\/flora-here%e2%80%99s-a-flower-you-won%e2%80%99t-pick\/bull-thistle-swallowtail-by-parker-chesson1\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-20221\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Bull-thistle-swallowtail-by-Parker-Chesson1.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"Bull-thistle-&amp;-swallowtail-by-Parker-Chesson1\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20221\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-20221\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">PHOTO BY PARKER CHESSON. Swallowtails are one of many insects attracted to bull thistle flower heads. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>By Ken Moore<br \/>\n<em>Flora Columnist<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Durham resident Parker Chesson recently captured the above image of a swallowtail on a bull thistle flower head. Parker continued his \u00e2\u20ac\u0153closer look\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and then captured (see back-page photo) the pre-expulsion stage of a mature seed head, which is every bit as beautiful as the flower itself. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve observed bull thistle seed heads countless times without ever catching this particular moment in time.<\/p>\n<p>Bull thistle, <em>Cirsium vulgare<\/em>, more commonly called spear thistle in Great Britain, is an alien plant on our turf. Needle-sharp spines cover the entire plant; farmers and horse owners curse it in their fields. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s listed as a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153plant to avoid\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on the N.C. Botanical Garden\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s website, and the N.C. Native Plant Society (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncwildflower.org\/\">ncwildflower.org<\/a>) includes it on their Rank 3 list of unwanted invasives.<\/p>\n<p>It can be easily spotted in small populations on disturbed ground and along roadsides. The peak of thistle flowering has passed, though you will likely spot a few still flowering here and there. Most notable just now are the silky plumed seeds soaring aloft on summer breezes. It may be a surprise that those bits of flying silk come from that brilliant-purple thistle head. Thistle flower heads are visited by several butterfly species and other colorful winged pollinators partaking in what must be a nectar feast. I was fortunate to have a seldom-seen zebra swallowtail visit one of the volunteer plants in my yard last week. <\/p>\n<p>The purple flower head, another example of the aster (composite) family\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s compact head of disc or tube flowers, is mature for only a single day. Almost overnight, that needle-barbed flower head changes to a ball of silky fluff ready to take flight. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fun to watch goldfinches brave the spiny heads to eat the ripe seeds. I believe those goldfinches are pretty efficient in harvesting the ripe seed \u00e2\u20ac\u201c because every time I pluck one of those flying seed plumes from the air, I find the seed missing. So perhaps the birds are helping keep this exotic in check.<\/p>\n<p>For several years, armed with sturdy gloves, I enjoyed taking a stem or two of the thistle flowers to an old friend of Scottish heritage. Even with gloves, I found the experience painfully prickly. <\/p>\n<p>It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy to accept the stories that the early Scots adopted the spear thistle as their national emblem because of the numerous tales of invaders running into fields of thistles and crying out in pain, thus alerting the defending Scots. Though historians still debate which particular thistle is the official Scottish Thistle, most have settled on this one.<\/p>\n<p>Rather hard to believe are the various accounts of the edible and medicinal qualities of this otherwise untouchable weed. Space doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t allow for them here, but for those of you interested, go to Jim Duke\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <em>Handbook of Edible Weeds <\/em>and Tom Brown Jr.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Tom Brown\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <em>Field Guide: Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants<\/em> for downright mouthwatering descriptions of harvesting and preparing spear thistle roots, stems, leaves and flower heads.<\/p>\n<p>So next time you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re out and about, tread softly among the<em> Cirsium vulgare<\/em> as you share what you know with your walking companion!<\/p>\n<p><em>Email Ken Moore at flora@carrborocitizen.com.<br \/>\n<\/em><br \/>\nFind previous Ken Moore Citizen columns at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/flora\">The Annotated Flora<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_20222\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20222\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2011\/08\/11\/flora-here%e2%80%99s-a-flower-you-won%e2%80%99t-pick\/bull-thistle-seed-head-explosion-2-by-parker-chesson1\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-20222\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Bull-thistle-seed-head-explosion-2-by-Parker-Chesson1.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"Bull-thistle-seed-head-explosion-2-by-Parker-Chesson1\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20222\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-20222\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">PHOTO BY PARKER CHESSON. Seeds of bull thistle poised to take flight.  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_20223\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20223\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2011\/08\/11\/flora-here%e2%80%99s-a-flower-you-won%e2%80%99t-pick\/bull-thistle-seed-takes-flight-by-parker-chesson1\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-20223\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Bull-thistle-seed-takes-flight-by-Parker-Chesson1.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"Bull-thistle-seed-takes-flight-by-Parker-Chesson1\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20223\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-20223\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">PHOTO BY PARKER CHESSON. Thistle seeds can travel miles aloft summer breezes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Durham resident Parker Chesson recently captured the above image of a swallowtail on a bull thistle flower head.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":20221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-flora"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20220"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20267,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20220\/revisions\/20267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}