Bull Thistle and Thistledown
A close-up of a bright purple bull thistle blossom with the classic spiny bract beneath the blossom.
Captured in St. Mary’s Reservoir Provincial Recreation Area near Magrath, Alberta, Canada; using a Canon Rebel XSi.
Cirsium vulgare (Spear Thistle, Bull thistle, Plumed thistle, Roadside thistle; syn. C. lanceolatum) is a species of the genus Cirsium, native throughout Europe, Asia and northern Africa, but also present in North America as an invasive weed. It is designated an “injurious weed” under the UK Weeds Act 19591 and a noxious weed in nine US states.
It is a tall biennial thistle, forming a rosette of leaves in the first year, and a flowering stem 1-2.5 m tall in the second year. The leaves are very spiny, deeply lobed, up to 15-25 cm long (smaller on the upper part of the flower stem). The inflorescence is 2.5-5 cm diameter, pink-purple, with all the florets of similar form (no division into disc and ray florets). The seeds are 5 mm long, with a downy pappus which assists in wind dispersal.
*_Source: Wikipedia — author unknown_
