Burke: Carduus nutans

	Carduus nutans
	musk thistle, nodding thistle
Habit	Biennial herb 3-25 dm. tall, the stem winged from the leaf bases.
Leaves	Leaves deeply lobed, up to 40 cm. long and 15 cm. wide, mostly glabrous.
Flowers	Heads mostly solitary and nodding at the ends of the branches, the disk usually 4-8 cm. wide; middle and outer involucre bracts broad, 2-8 mm. wide, with long, flat, spiny tip, the mid-rib very prominent; inner bracts narrower and softer, often purplish; flowers purple; pappus capillary, not plumose.
Fruits	Achenes glabrous.

	Carduus nutans
Flowering time	June-October
Habitat	Roadsides, fields, ditches, wastelots, and other disturbed, open areas.
Distribution	Occurring in scattered locations on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Introduced from Eurasia
Conservation status	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	C. acanthoides, C. pycnocephalus, C. tenuiflorus
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Carduus nutans

musk thistle, nodding thistle

Habit

Biennial herb 3-25 dm. tall, the stem winged from the leaf bases.

Leaves

Leaves deeply lobed, up to 40 cm. long and 15 cm. wide, mostly glabrous.

Flowers

Heads mostly solitary and nodding at the ends of the branches, the disk usually 4-8 cm. wide; middle and outer involucre bracts broad, 2-8 mm. wide, with long, flat, spiny tip, the mid-rib very prominent; inner bracts narrower and softer, often purplish;

flowers purple;

pappus capillary, not plumose.

Fruits

Achenes glabrous.