Bull Thistle

Cirsium vulgare

This alien biennial sends up a tall stem, with occasional side branches, in the spring of its second year, at the top of which on various branches the large flower heads appear; the spiny bud may be 1-1/2 inches long, and the blossom up to 2 inches across, consisting entirely of disk florets which are usually purple but may be white. Each flowering stem supports a few flowers, no more than 3.  This thistle has a spiny stem, unlike native species. Leaves low on the plant are 6 inches or more in length, lance-shaped and pointed with paired lobes on either side, which are also pointed and end in a pointed spine, as does the tip      at the end of the leaf.

3-7 feet, sun.  

Summer-Autumn (July-October).

Uppermost leaves may be linear, but they, too, end in a sharp spine.

2 July 2020.

Bull Thistle, 10 July 2020.