Serratula tinctoria resembles some thistles, but differs in being entirely spineless, and largely hairless.
Common name:
Saw-wort
Family:
Scientific name:
Serratula tinctoria
Main flower color:
Range:
Most common in southwest England and southwest Wales; range extends to northern England
Height:
Up to 70 cm
Habitat:
Light woodland, damp meadows and heaths; often on calcareous soils
Flowers:
Many narrow, purple-red disc florets, and a narrow involucre ringed by several rows of purplish, spineless bracts, tightly appressed. Surfaces of the bracts are hairless, while margins have short, cottony, white hairs. Flowerheads are few in number, in an open, terminal cluster
Leaves:
Hairless, up to 20 cm long, lined by small, sharp teeth. Only the uppermost leaves are unlobed; most are pinnately lobed, with narrow side lobes and a larger terminal lobe, this relatively long and narrow for midstem leaves, broader and more ovate for lower stem leaves
Season:
July to October
Rarity:
★★★★★
