Cirsium helenioides, called melancholy thistle, is an Asian and Arctic species of plants in the thistle tribe within the sunflower family.
The species is native to Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Xinjiang, Kazakhstan.

Cirsium helenioides is a biennial herb up to 120 cm (48 inches) tall, usually not branched, blooming only once before dying.
Leaves are green on top, woolly underneath, with thin spines along the edges. There is one flower head per plant, with purple (occasionally white) disc florets but no ray florets.