Miller, P. (28 January 1754), The Gardeners Dictionary abridged Edn. 4, 1: - [tax. nov.]

Bentham, G. (5 January 1867), Orders XLVIII. Myrtaceae- LXII. Compositae. Flora Australiensis 3: 458 [secondary reference]

Britton, N.L. & Brown, A. (7 June 1913), An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States, Canada and the British possessions Edn. 2, 3: 548 [secondary reference]

• Type: Carduus heterophyllus L.

Black, J.M. (1929), Bignoniaceae - Compositae. Flora of South Australia 4: 652 [secondary reference]

• Etymology: "Greco-Latin cirsion, the name of some species of thistle."

Black, J.M. & Robertson, E.L. (1957), Flora of South Australia Edn. 2, 4: 933 [secondary reference]

• Etymology: "Greco-Latin cirsion, the name of some species of thistle."

Beadle, N.C.W., Evans, O.D. & Carolin, R.C. (1962), Handbook of the Vascular Plants of the Sydney District and Blue Mountains: 379 [secondary reference]

Curtis, W.M. (1963), Angiospermae: Lythraceae to Epacridaceae. The Student's Flora of Tasmania 2: 376 [secondary reference]

Eichler, Hj. (1965), Supplement to J.M.Black's Flora of South Australia (Second Edition, 1943-1957): 327-328 [secondary reference]

Burbidge, N.T. & Gray, M. (1970), Flora of the Australian Capital Territory: 390-392 [secondary reference]

Cronquist, A.J. (1981), An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants: 1025 [secondary reference]

Jacobs, S.W.L. & Pickard, J. (1981), Plants of New South Wales: 75 [secondary reference]

Jessop, J.P. in Jessop, J.P. (ed.) (1981), Compositae (Asteraceae) - most genera. Flora of Central Australia: 412 [secondary reference]

Stanley, T.D. in Stanley, T.D. & Ross, E.M. (1986), Asteraceae. Flora of South-eastern Queensland 2: 582 [secondary reference]

Lander, N.S. in Marchant, N.G., Wheeler, J.R., Rye, B.L., Bennett, E.M., Lander, N.S. & Macfarlane, T.D. (1987), Asteraceae. Flora of the Perth Region 2: 670 [secondary reference]

Murray, L. in Harden, G.J. (ed.) (1992), Cirsium. Flora of New South Wales 3: 322 [secondary reference]

common name: Thistles [n/a]

Jeanes, J.A. in Walsh, N.G. & Entwisle, T.J. (ed.) (1999), Asteraceae. Flora of Victoria 4: 671-672 [secondary reference]

Wheeler, J.R., Marchant, N.G. & Lewington, M. (2002), Dicotyledons. Flora of the South West 2: 501 [secondary reference]

Anderberg, A.A., Baldwin, B.G., Bayer, R.G., Breitwieser, I., Jeffrey, C., Dillon, M.O., Eldenäs, P., Funk, V., Garcia-Jacas, N., Hind, D.J.N., Karis, P.O., Lack, H.W., Nesom, G., Nordenstam, B., Oberprieler, C., Panero, J.J., Puttock, C., Robinson, H., Stuessy, T.F., Susanna, A., Urtubey, E., Vogt, R., Ward, J. & Watson, L.E. in Kubitzki, K. (ed.) (2007), Compositae. The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants 8: 132, Fig. 32 [secondary reference]

Mabberley, D.J. (1 May 2008), Mabberley's Plant-Book Edn. 3: 189 [secondary reference]

Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria (2011), Australian Plant Census: - APC [secondary reference]

• APC Dist.: WA (naturalised), NT (doubtfully naturalised), SA (naturalised), Qld (naturalised), NSW (naturalised), LHI (naturalised), NI (naturalised), Vic (naturalised), Tas (naturalised)

Bean, A.R. in Wilson, A.J.G. (ed.) (2015), Asteraceae Subfam. 2. Carduoideae Trib. 1. Cardueae. Flora of Australia 37: 58 [secondary reference]

• Etymology: "from the Latin cirsion (thistle), used by Dioscorides, from kirsos or cirsos, a swollen vein, which it was said to cure."

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