Spear thistle
Spiny biennial flowering from midsummer to autumn, a good nectar source on warm days that supports the late-summer flow.
- Nectar
- Good
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 0,5-1,5 m
- Life cycle
- Biennial
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The purple heads of spear thistle consist of many tubular florets; the tubes are short enough for the honey bee's tongue to reach, and abundant nectar is secreted on warm, moist soil. Bumblebees and butterflies also visit heavily. Pollen is whitish and moderate in quantity.
Flowering
In the first year it forms a leaf rosette, and in the second year it flowers from June to September. Each plant keeps opening new heads for weeks, making it a long-lasting source on pastures, fallow land and roadsides.
Honey and pollen
Spear thistle honey as such is rarely taken; thistle species give summer-autumn mixed honey a light colour and a pleasant aroma.
Note for the beekeeper
As it is regarded as a weed on fields and pastures, it is usually mown or sprayed. Leaving a few stands in corners around the apiary where livestock cannot get in helps during the late-summer dearth; to stop it spreading seed, the heads can be cut off at the end of flowering.