Flowering Teasel

Often mistaken by those not in the know as a 'Thistle', the Teasel will be recognised by many in it's brown lifeless state after it has finished seeding. The Teasel flowers for only 2 months of the year and is a biennial plant, meaning it flowers on alternate years - you will often see flowering teasels alongside dead ones until they are harvested for use by florists. With prickly leaves and stem, they are brown and dry for 10 months of the year, however they are easily recognised during July and August by the dark pink or lavender flowers on the top of the stem - and visited by many pollenating insects especially bees.

The genus name 'Caprifoliacae' is derived from the word for thirst of water and refers to the cup-like formation made where sessile leaves merge at the stem. Rain water can collect in this receptacle; this may perform the function of preventing sap-sucking insects such as aphids from climbing the stem. A 2011 experiment has shown that adding dead insects to these cups increases the seedset of teasels (but not their height), implying partial carnivory. 

This particular specimen was photographed along the bank of  the Titchfield Canal in Hampshire - part of the River Meon; it is now a narrow stream and was once used for transportation of goods. If you being your walk along the path from the car park at the north end in Titchfield, you will find the Teasels just a few hundred feet or so down, on the edge of the stream. Here you will find an open field with the occasional togger sat waiting to spot Roe Deer which frequently traverse through the meadows here - although they are best spotted early morning or when they return as the sun goes down.

This photo was taken with a Canon 100-400L lens, as what is known as a 'pseudo macro' - named as such because it doesn't give you true 1:1 reproduction but rather a close-up. Shooting flowers like this with a long lens does give an impressive buttery smooth bokeh and therefore good isolation from the background - something you cannot do consistently with a shorter focal length.