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bull thistle, common thistle

Habit Stout biennial, 3-15 dm. tall, the stem conspicuously spiny-winged from the bases of the leaves and covered with stiff, blunt hairs.
Leaves

Leaves pinnatifid, the largest again toothed or lobed;

leaves covered with short, pointed hairs above and thinly white-woolly below.

Flowers

Heads several;

involucre 2.5-4 cm. high, all its bracts spine-tipped;

flowers all ligulate, purple or rarely white.

Fruits

Achenes less than 4 mm. long.

Cirsium pulcherrimum

Cirsium vulgare

Flowering time June-September
Habitat Roadsides, fields, forest edge, ditches, balds, prairies, wastelots, and other disturbed, open areas.
Distribution
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Widely distributed 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. arvense, C. brevifolium, C. brevistylum, C. edule, C. flodmanii, C. hookerianum, C. inamoenum, C. remotifolium, C. scariosum, C. undulatum, C. vulgare
C. arvense, C. brevifolium, C. brevistylum, C. edule, C. flodmanii, C. hookerianum, C. inamoenum, C. remotifolium, C. scariosum, C. undulatum
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