Bull Thistle
Cirsium vulgare
Asteraceae (Aster Family)
Leaf Arrangement: Alternate
Leaf Type: Simple
Height: 2 - 6 feet
Habitat: Roadsides, pastures, waste places
Blooms: June - September
The bull thistle is the spiniest of the thistles (National Audubon Society, 2001) and has spines on it's stems (Elliman & Trust, 2016). This plant has a rosette of leaves at it's base (National Audubon Society, 2001) and the undersides of it's leaves are pale or wooly (McKenny & Peterson, 1998). The thistledown of the thistle carries it's seeds to be blown by the wind (National Audubon Society, 2001). This plant is native to Eurasia (Elliman & Trust, 2016).
References
Elliman, T., & Trust, N. P. (2016). Wildflowers of New England (A Timber Press Field Guide) (Illustrated ed.). Timber Press.
McKenny, M., & Peterson, R. T. (1998). A Peterson Field Guide to Wildflowers: Northeastern and North-central North America (Peterson Field Guides) (2nd ed.). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
National Audubon Society. (2001). National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers--E: Eastern Region - Revised Edition (National Audubon Society Field Guides) (2nd Revised ed.). Knopf.