Cirsium dissectum Meadow Thistle

A very attractive, softly-spiny, white-hairy, perennial thistle with purple flower heads, which grows in wet soils such as in dune slacks and peaty fields. It is a charcateristic species of species-rich marshy grasslands, particularly Purple Moor-grass (Molinia caerulea)-Meadow Thistle (Cirsium dissectum) Fen-Meadow communities (M24 in the National Vegetation Classification system), where it is a very important indicator species and a nectaring plant for butterflies and other pollinators. Although it is widespread in West Glamorgan it has disappeard from many places as a result of habitat loss due to agricultural improvements or through natural succession to birch-willow scrub due to neglect. This is particularly evident in Neath Port Talbot where it has become scarce. It is more common in Gower where it is a conspicuous feature of some marshy grasslands, e.g. Welshmoor (SAC and SSSI).

Native