Bull Thistle, Cirsium vulgare
Asteraceae or Sunflower Family
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Tall erect, viciously prickly, but very pretty
plant. The leaves, flower heads and stems, are covered
with spines. Leaves deeply and irregularly cut and lobed,
spiny at lobe tips,. Flower heads typical of a thistle,
about 2 inches tall, with a multitude of long-petaled purple
flowers. Blooms in the summer Alien weed of fields, roadsides and waste places. Occasional along the bike path, along Wildwood Drive and around the butterfly meadows. The native field thistle (Cirsium
discolor) has a little bit smaller flowers, white wool on
the undersides of the leaves, and no spines on the stems. |
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