Cirsium segetum

Bunge

Lesser thistle

Asteraceae Edible: Leaves 2,183 iNaturalist observations

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Description

A spiny herb. It is a thistle. It keeps growing from year to year. It grows 10-60 cm high. There are wire like underground stems or rhizomes. The buds at the end develop into aerial shoots. The leaves on young plants are in a ring. The leaves on the stems are alternate. They are sword shaped and 2-10 cm long by 1-3 cm wide. They do not have leaf stalks. The flowers are purple-red.

Edible Uses

Young leaves are eaten as a vegetable, typically boiled, washed, drained and seasoned for salads, or cooked with cracked cereals as a famine food.

Traditional Uses

The young leaves are eaten as a vegetable. They are boiled, washed and drained and seasoned for salads. They are also cooked with cracked cereals as a famine food.

Distribution

It is a temperate plant. It is common in northern China.

Where It Grows

Asia, China, Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Mongolia,

Notes

There are about 150-250 Cirsium species. They grow in temperate regions.

Synonyms

Cephalonoplos segetum (Bunge) KitamuraBreea segeta (Bunge) Kitamura

Also Known As

Chonun haltar

References (6)

Enum. pl. China bor. 36. 1833 (Mem. Acad. Imp. Sci. St.-Petersbourg Divers Savans 2:110. 1835)
Hu, Shiu-ying, 2005, Food Plants of China. The Chinese University Press. p 726
Kang, Y., et al, 2012, Wild food plants and wild edible fungi in two valleys on the Qinling Mountains (Shaanxi, central China) Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine; 9:26
Khasbagan, Hu-Yin Huai, and Sheng-Ji pei, 2000, Wild Plants in the Diet of Athorchin Mongol Herdsmen in Inner Mongolia. Economic Botany 54(4): 528-536
Plants for a Future database, The Field, Penpol, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0NG, UK. http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/

Show all 6 references

Wujisguleng, W., & Khasbagen. K., 2010, An integrated assessment of wild vegetable resources in Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, China. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 6:34