Wildflower Wednesday: Bull Thistle
As a group of plants, thistles are well known for their spiny leaves and large pinkish purple flower heads. Most species are biennials, producing only a basal rosette of leaves in their first year. The characteristic flowering stalks are not produced until the plant’s second year. Bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare), although native to much of Europe, has naturalized across much of North America. It is a large thistle generally found in fields and waste places. It can grow 3 to…