Cirsium setidens is a wild perennial plant species found in Korea that may have anti-oxidative, anti-adipogenic, and hepatoprotective activities. However, details of the toxicology of C. setidens remain unknown. This study was performed to evaluate the toxicological effects of an acute administration and 4-week repeated dosing of a C. setidens extract in Sprague-Dawley rats to ensure the safe u...

There has been evidence that plants exhibit overcompensation after damage through trampling or herbivory. Cirsium pitcheri is an endangered thistle found in the sandy dunes of northern Michigan. The purpose of our experiment was to determine if this monocarpic plant exhibits overcompensation by observing pollination and fitness measures. We recorded pollinator activity, head count, and seed out...

Endophytic fungi live asymptomatically within plants. They are usually regarded as nonpathogenic or even mutualistic, but whether plants respond antagonistically to their presence remains unclear, particularly in the little-studied associations between endophytes and nongraminoid herbaceous plants. We investigated the effects of the endophyte Chaetomium cochlioides on leaf chemistry in Cirsium ...

Defoliation has frequently been proposed as a means of controlling Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop. (Californian thistle, Canada thistle, creeping thistle, perennial thistle), an economically damaging pastoral weed in temperate regions of the world, but its optimization has remained obscure. We developed a matrix model for the population dynamics of C. arvense in sheep-grazed pasture in New Zealand t...

Perennial weeds, including Cirsium arvense and Sonchus arvensis, are a common problem in crop fields, especially in agricultural systems with reduced herbicide usage. Herbicides recommended for control of these perennials generally are restricted to only a few active ingredients that tend to have low selectivity, especially on dicot crops. Microbial phytotoxins or their synthetic analogues may ...

Rhinocyllus conicus, a weevil introduced for biological control of exotic weeds, has had major nontarget ecological effects on native thistles. Some practitioners have argued that this is an isolated case. We report, however, that another Eurasian weevil (Larinus planus), currently being distributed in North America for the control of Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense), is significantly reducing ...

Throughout Europe, Cirsium arvense is the most problematic perennial weed in arable crops, whether managed under organic or conventional agriculture. Non-chemical control methods are limited with partial efficacy. Knowledge missing on their effect across a wide gradient of cropping systems and pedoclimates. To achieve effective management ensuring crop productivity while limiting reliance herbi...