Unbelievable You Wont Believe What This ThistleLike Flowering Plant Can Do on Grasslands

As the weather begins to break and the days become warmer, you’re probably gearing up to start gardening. Unfortunately, Musk Thistle is a negative side effect of the lovely weather.

Its puffy purple flowers look beautiful and innocent and attract butterflies and birds to your yard. But it can also wreak havoc on your beloved plants if it grows out of control.

Musk Thistle is an invasive species accidentally introduced here in the United States. It is native to Europe, parts of Africa, and parts of Asia.

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Some think it may have come from European boats during trading shipments in the 1800s. It’s possible that this weed, or its seeds, were inside the ballast water on these ships.

Ballast wateris salt or freshwater that gets pumped into tanks on a boat to aid in stability. When ships empty this water, it can release a range of non-native plants and other organisms into the area’s port.

The scientific name for Musk Thistle is Carduus nutans. But, more common names you might hear include Nodding Thistle or Nodding Plumeless Thistle.

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Musk Thistlecan be easily identified, as its flowers look intriguing. They have a beautiful purple color to them, along with a spiked disk look. Each can range from 1-3 inches in diameter and typically bloom from spring to fall.

The tops of these lobed leaves are smooth, while the sides are prickly and have toothed edges. They are typically dark green with a silver sheen and can grow to lengths of up to over 1 foot. Its stems are branch-like, thick, and have some spines of their own.

This weed is a biennial plant in most areas. Meaning it will take two years for the plant to grow completely. It might not be much of a nuisance in its first year due to the plant’s small size. But, it will be a problem in the second year, with its spines and spreadable seeds.

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The plant will cause injuries, and the weed will spread quickly and take over pastures, fields, and yards. Musk Thistle falls into the weed category due to its unwanted ability to take over large areas. If your beloved plants are in their path, they can die.

Although the flowers might be pretty, Musk Thistle can cause multiple problems, especially if you have livestock. The plant’s sharp, hair-like spines can lead to some annoying irritation and itching for you and your pets.

Also, livestock refuses to eat this weed, as it’s unpalatable to them. This will lead to picky grazing, allowing the weed to grow out of control in untouched areas. And if it gets into your yard, your plants can weaken, as it is a nutrient, sunlight, and water hog.

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Most of the seed dispersal takes place due to the wind. After the flowers bloom, the seeds (likedandelion weeds) have little white, fluffy hairs on them. So, when the wind blows, the seeds will release from the flower head and go wherever the breeze takes them.

Trying to get rid of Musk Thistle can be a pain because it’s hard to remove manually. The spikes can get stuck in your hands, and the taproot system travels deep into the soil. With this in mind, here are your removal options.

Since pulling the weeds by hand isn’t feasible, you’ll need someweeding toolsto help you. Your aim is to cut the root system below the soil to prevent the plant from regrowing.

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You’ll need to dig your hoe or shovel underneath the plant firmly to do this. This should sever the root system and allow you to easily pull the Musk Thistle plant out.

Running over the plants before they bloom with your lawn mower can also help control the spread. You must stay on top of this as you notice new growth.

Thistles, in general, can be stubborn to kill. So, you’ll typically need athistle-specific weed killerto eliminate this weed. Follow the directions on the bottle, and your yard should be Musk Thistle-free in no time!

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The flowers of this weed are beautiful to look at. They can bring your yard a bright pop of color if you don’t have many plants.

Not only this, but they attract beautiful wildlife like butterflies and birds. The flowers have tons of nectar, which butterflies love to snack on. And the seeds are great snacks for local birds.

Some people like to use the leaves and seeds of this weed to create a tonic. It’s possible that this herbal tonic can help cleanse your liver, almost like a detox. However, you should always consult your doctor before trying things like this.

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No, this weed isn’t poisonous at all! But keep in mind that the spines can cause irritation and itchiness. You might need topical medication to help with this.

Bees love the flowers of thistle plants. They are usually chock full of pollen and nectar, which bees are always looking for. The purple color of the flowers will also attract them, as bees tend to go for bright colors.

This weed can grow almost anywhere in the United States except in just a few states. You typically won’t see it growing in extreme northern and southern states like Maine or Florida.

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Musk Thistle can be a nasty invader to your yard and livestock pastures, easily taking over vegetation. However, it can also offer the beauty of local wildlife and a medicinal purpose.

You can rid your land of it manually or with thistle weed killers if needed. But you should try to keep its benefits in mind before deciding!stream by a large meadow, a cluster of Bull thistles has recently burst into brilliant purple-pink flower. The Bull thistle goes by the latin name

Attracted to its beautiful flowers, I decided to inspect it more closely. But this stunning deep purple-pink flowered plant is as sharp as it is beautiful. Brian Johnston of Microscopy-UK describes the thistle this way:

Blue Glow Globe Thistle

“The ubiquitous thistle flamboyantly discourages close investigation. Almost the entire plant is covered in very sharp spiny bristles that easily penetrate all but the most sturdy materials.”

And yet, close investigation is exactly what I wished to do. So, I did some research and then, after lunch, I returned to the Bull thistles armed with my friend’s gardening gloves, a set of small garden shears, a pair of tweezers and my trusty SLR camera.

To begin, the Bull thistle is a biennial plant (e.g., forms a leafy rosette during its first year of growth and a flowering stem in the second year). It’s also a member of the Aster family.

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Like the aster, the Bull thistle is a composite plant with a dome-like flower head or capitulum of up to 200 hundred tubular florets (together called an inflorescence); flower heads may occur solitarily or in terminal clusters of two or three on a single plant. Unlike asters, the Bull thistle flower head contains only disk (not ray) florets.

Each floret is bisexual (containing female stigma and style and male anthers). The pink corolla (flower petals), longer than the floret tube itself, have throats with five lobes from which emerges the long style. The style is tightly surrounded by five stamens, shorter than the style.

Close-up of a Thistle floret, showing male (fused anthers) and female parts (stigma/style and ovary/achene) and pappus (modified sepal and achene transportation mechanism) (photo by Nina Munteanu

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Several of the thistles I observed in the woodland-field ecotone where I walked had white flowers amid the deep purple ones. CABI tells us that white-flowers are rare worldwide but have been spotted in Canada, especially in British Columbia and in Ontario, where I currently reside.

The flower head sits on a narrow vase-shaped involucre (collection of bracts) which surrounds and protects the enclosed achene-pappus units (the dry seeded fruit and protective calyx).

The involucre consists of hundreds of grayish-green bracts (modified leaves) or phyllaries, armed with very sharp, stiff yellow spines. The spines help guard the thistle against insects wishing to climb the stem in search of the nutritious seeds (achenes). The upper bracts normally curve up towards the flower head (reflexed) and the lower ones bend down (decurrent).

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Cross-section of Bull thistle, showing receptacle (thistle heart) inside the protective involucre and on which the seeds are embedded (photo by Nina Munteanu)

Inside the protective shell of bracts, the ovaries of each floret attach to the receptacle, the widest part of the involucre and a fleshy part of the flower-base. It’s the heart of the inflorescence (think ‘artichoke heart’ or the fleshy part of the strawberry on which seeds are embedded). When fertilized, the ovaries develop into dry fruits called achenes (a dry fruit that doesn’t dehisce or open to disperse its seed). The achene of the thistle is called a cypsela—a fruit that looks like a seed.

The stem and leaves of the Bull thistle are also protected by sharp prickles. In fact, the bull thistle can be distinguished from other thistles by the covering of the short, sharp prickles on the upper, dark green surface of each highly lobed lanceolate leave blade.

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Because the pollen won’t germinate on the thistle flower that produces it, the Bull thistle needs to get its pollen to another flower head through cross-pollination by pollinators

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