Cardus tenuiflorus                  Slender Thistle

Distribution: Three plants seen on the edge of abandoned landings near Princes Dock Liverpool (SJ39F, Dave Earl & Joyce Earl, 30th June 2009).

Former distribution: A rare plant along the coastal fringe; banks between Hesketh Bank and Crossens (SD32 and/or SD42, Fl. Preston 1865); Southport (SD31I, Grindon 1859); Bootle (SJ39H, Hall 1839); about the old quarry, Little Crosby (SD30A, WG Travis, 1907).

Note also the historic record from SJ58 the details of which are not given in Travis’s Flora (1963) or on the associated card index system. The precise details of this record submitted c. 1950 are not known at this stage. The record could be from a herbarium specimen and may be from an area south of the River Mersey in neighbouring Cheshire.

Habitat: Sandy soils, sea banks and disturbed ground near the coast.

Comments: The recent record from Liverpool is thought to be the first confirmed sighting of this species in the Watsonian vice-county of South Lancashire since 1907. It is possible that further populations occur about the extensive and usually inaccessible Liverpool docklands. It is also possible that the Slender Thistle may have been overlooked by local naturalists who are unfamiliar with this species and that the images presented here may assist with identification and the discovery of further populations.