Barnaby's Thistle

(Centaurea solstitialis)

 

Color Photograph: California Department of Agriculture

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

 

Barnaby's Thistle (Centaurea solstitialis)

Identification: Flower with an ovate base topped with a spray of yellow florets. Apices of florets subdivided. Bracts with apex developed into huge, yellow spines. Stem smooth, tough. Upper leaves linear, undivided, and with smooth margins. Plant 1 to 2.5 inches in height.

Distribution: Throughout most of North America except in parts of the southeastern United States.

Habitat: Barnaby's Thistle is a weed of fields, empty lots, roadsides, and other disturbed habitats.

Flowering period: July to October.

Barnaby's Thistle (Centaurea solstitialis)

Similar Species:

The yellow spines of the flower head are suggestive of Caltrops. However the yellow florets and the smooth, undivided, elongate upper leaves are distinctive.

Similar Species

No Similar Species