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Japanese Thistle🌼
Cirsium japonicum
ノアザミ
The most representative native thistle of Japan. A perennial that produces spiny reddish-purple flower heads from spring to early summer. The leaves and involucral bracts bear sharp spines. Widely distributed in meadows, embankments, and roadsides, it is frequently visited by butterflies and bees for nectar.
Identification Points
- ✓Reddish-purple flower heads with rounded involucres
- ✓Involucral bracts are sticky (secrete mucilage)
- ✓Sharp spines on leaves, stems, and involucres
- ✓Blooms from spring to early summer (distinguishing it from later-flowering thistles)
Habitat
Grasslands, embankments, roadsides, and mountain meadows
Season
May–August (flowers)
3D Specimen Model
Kyushu University, Shikano Lab (CC0)
View on Sketchfab→Morphological TraitsAI-estimated, needs verification
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf type
Simple
Venation
Pinnate
Leaf margin
Serrate
Leaf shape
Ovate
Growth form
Herb
Petal count
5 petals
Petal fusion
Fused
Flower color
Purple
Flowering season
Summer
Habitat
Grassland
Phylogenetic Positionキク科 →
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Core eudicots > Asterales > Asteraceae
Divergence Era
Late Cretaceous to Paleogene (approx. 80–70 million years ago)
Sources & References
AI-generated, needs verification