Cirsium oligophyllum var. oligophyllum("Noharaazami")
Japanese name: ノハラアザミ（野原薊） Scientific name:Cirsium oligophyllum var. oligophyllum
[Overview]
A perennial 30–100 cm tall, found in grasslands from low mountains to mountain regions.
It is said that in Fukushima some plants reach as much as 3 m in height.
The stem is erect and branches in the upper part.
There are basal leaves and stem leaves; the basal leaves remain at flowering time.
The basal leaves are lanceolate to narrowly obovate, 10–50 cm long and 4–22 cm wide, herbaceous, and are pinnately divided into 3–12 pairs of lobes, or undivided with toothed or entire margins.
The upper surface of the leaves often has white blotches along the veins or a reddish midrib, and the margins have spines.
The stem leaves are alternate, have no leaf stalk, and clasp the stem at the base.
The flower heads face upward at the stem tip, are solitary or in groups of 3–5, and are pale reddish purple.
The involucre is bell-shaped to broadly bell-shaped, 1.2–1.6 cm wide, and the involucral bracts are in 11–12 rows and are not sticky.
Several bracts are borne at the base of the flower head, and plants in which these develop greatly into a wheel shape are called Kuruma-azami.
The fruit is an achene with white pappus.
