Thistles: notes on Carduus arvensis, the common Creeping Thistle, with a short reference to Cnicus lanceolatus, the Spear or Plume Thistle

Carduus arvensis is perhaps the commonest of European thistles.
It is well known under the names of "creeping," "wayside," "corn," and "vine," and latterly, in Tasmania, it has received the additional one of "Californian." Why this latter name should have been so long exclusively used for so common and well-known a plant, it is difficult to conceive, although it no doubt originated from the fact that some 20 or 25 years ago a shipment of barley, purporting to be the Oregon variety, was received from California, to which is attributed the introduction, or, at all events, the serious augmentation of this weed. It is certain that wherever this barley was used as seed, a plentiful crop of the thistle soon made its appearance, and has ever since held possession of the ground, and thus the term of Californian thistle originated. But the plant being so common in Europe in all grain crops, especially oats, and being one also that has followed cultivation to most parts of the world, it is not improbable that it may have existed in the colony at a very early date, there is however no evidence of its having been noticed before the time specified.