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Cirsium horridulum
Purple Thistle
Horrid Thistle
Yellow Thistle
Florida native
A common wildflower of flatwoods and disturbed sites in nearly all of Florida. The range extends throughout the southeastern states west into Oklahoma and Texas, and up the eastern coastal states as far north as Pennsylvania, New York, New Hampshire and Maine.
Cirsium horridulum is distinguished from the other species in the state by having spiny bracts surrounding the base of the inflorescence. The dense head of disk flowers is usually purple, but may be pink, yellow or white. Purple thistle flowers are a favorite of many pollinators. The single hollow stem of this biennial herb grows to 1.5m (5 ft.) tall. The pinnately lobed leaves have spines along the margins and appear first as a large basal rosette before the tall leafy stem emerges.
Cirsium horridulum is a member of the Asteraceae - Aster family.
Other species of the Cirsium genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Cirsium muticum - SWAMP THISTLE
Cirsium nuttallii - NUTTALL'S THISTLE
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Mar 31, 2020
