Thĭs'tle or Thistle crown, n.

(thĭs'əl), n. [A-S. thistel, Icel. thistill, Sw. tistel, Dan. tidsel, O. H. Ger. distil, distula, thistil, N. H. Ger. & D. distel, allied to Eng. teasel, q. v.] (Bot.) One of numerous prickly plants of the class Syngenesia, and several genera, as the common corn thistle, or Canada thistle; the spear-thistle; the milk-thistle, of the genus Carduus; the blessed thistle, of the genus Cnicus; the globe-thistle, of the genus Echinops; the cotton-thistle, of the genus Onopordon; and the sow-thistle, of the genus Sonchus. The name is also given to other prickly plants not of the class Syngenesia: as the fuller's thistle or teasel, of the genus Dipsacus, and the melon thistle, and torch thistle, of the genus Melocactus. Lee. Bigelow.

☞ One species of thistle, Cirsium (Carduus) arvense, grows in fields among grain, and is extremely troublesome to farmers. It is called in America the Canada thistle, as it first appeared in Canada, where it was probably introduced from France, as it abounds in Normandy, and also in England. A larger species in America, Cirsium (Carduus) lanceolatum, is indigenous; but it spreads slowly, and gives no trouble.

☞ The thistle is the national emblem of Scotland.

Thistle crown, a gold crown of England, of the reign of James I.