Tall thistle

Images

Click on image to view full size

Tall thistle

Tall thistle leaves

Tall thistle leaf

Tall thistle

Tall thistle

Tall thistle in winter

Tall thistle

Tall thistle inflorescence

Tall thistle

Tall thistle disk florets

Tall thistle in winter

Tall thistle

Tall thistle in winter

Tall thistle leaf

Tall thistle

Tall thistle

Morphology

Stem

Erect, large, coarse, branched above, greenish, pubescent.

Leaves

Alternate, simple, short stalked or sessile, lanceolate to elliptic, 4 to 12 inches long, 1.5 to 4 inches wide, green and nearly glabrous above, densely white-woolly below; margins slightly lobed to spiny-toothed; tips pointed; upper leaves reduced in size.

Inflorescence

Solitary urn-shaped heads, 1.5 to 2 inches tall, terminal; bracts overlapping, tipped with small yellow spines.

Flower

Ray florets absent; disk florets numerous, corollas light or dark rose to purplish.

Fruit

Achenes, brown, tipped with white or gray feather-like bristles, enclosing small seed.

Ecology

Habitat

Open, moist to dry disturbed areas, roadsides, ditches, pastures, and thickets.

Distribution

East 2/3 of Kansas.

Practical Information

Uses

The Cherokee took an infusion of the leaves for neuralgia, a warm infusion of the roots as an aid for overeating, and used the plumose pappus bristles were to make blow dart tails. Songbirds will eat the seeds.

Additional Notes