Bull Thistle

Asteraceae

LIFE FORM: Biennial

NATIVITY: Eurasia

VEGETATIVE CHARACTERISTICS:

A robust plant that can grow to 6 feet or more with very spiny leaves.

FLOWERS:

Purple flowers are subtended by numerous spiny bracts.

FRUIT/DISPERSAL AGENTS:

Wind dispersed seeds in fall.

ECOLOGICAL PREFERENCE:

Grows best in moist, rich soil. Prefers vacant lots and rubble dump sites; abandoned grasslands (meadows); freshwater wetlands, ponds and streams; unmowed highway banks and median strips with frequent salt applications; railroad tracks with ballast substrate.

ENVIRONMENTAL FUNCTION:

Disturbance-adapted colonizer.

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:

This biennial has a dramatic presence in the landscape when fully mature; the young shoots when peeled are edible.