Welted Thistle

(Carduus crispus)

 

Color drawing: C. A. M. Lindman (1901-1905), Bilder ur Nordens Flora.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Welted Thistle (Carduus crispus)

Alien: Native of Europe.

Identification: Flower head relatively small (0.75 inches in diameter), round, and spiny. Florets pink to lavender in a shaving brush shaped cluster at the top of the flower head. Flower heads in a cluster (not single) near the top of the plant. Bracts narrow, spreading outward, and woolly green. Spiny ridges running down the stem. Leaves with spiny, broad subdivisions. Plant 2 to 4 feet in height.

Distribution: Southern Canada southward to Missouri, Ohio, and Virginia. Absent from the southeastern United States.

Habitat: Welted Thistle is a weed and is found in a variety of disturbed habitats such as fields, open lots, and roadsides.

Flowering period: June to September.

Welted Thistle (Carduus crispus)

Similar Species:

Welted Thistle might be confused with other thistles with spines or spiny ridges along the stem. However the small flower heads arranged in a terminal cluster will usually identify the species.

Similar Species

No Similar Species