H. Beentje (2006) Cirsium. Flora of Somalia 3: 477
PLants herbs. Stems with spiny wings. Leaves alternate, pinnatifid, with spine-tipped teeth. Capitula homogamous, discoid; phyllaries many, in several series, usually spine-tipped. Flowers slender; styles with an abrupt swelling and a ring of hairs just below the branches, brancehes flat and more or less connate diverging only distally. Achenes with raised, anular collars; pappuses with many series of plumose bristles, connate into a ring as the base.
Cirsium is a genus that is now interpreted to include almost 450 species. Only one species is know from Somaliland, Cirsium vulgare. None are reported for Somalia in the Flora of Somalia.
Note: GBIF records include introduced and cultivated plants. Consequently, the distribution shown often differs from statements about a taxon's native distribution.