OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Carduus nutans   FAMILY Asteraceae__   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Carduus nutans   FAMILY Asteraceae__

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Carduus nutans

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)

Carduus nutans

INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)

Carduus nutans ssp. macrolepis

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-25-014:

Carduus nutans   FAMILY Asteraceae__

 

COMMON NAME:
Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_canu4_001_lvd

        

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

John B. Nelson    jbn_3551391202_2cf2fa231c

May        SC

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm140603_386

June    Pickens County    SC

SC Botanical Garden

Heads ~ 2" wide, usually nodding, solitary at the ends of very long stalks, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm170603_0343

June    Hart County    GA

Roadside

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm170603_177

June    Anderson County    SC

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm170603_180

June    Anderson County    SC

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm170603_181

June    Anderson County    SC

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm170603_215

June    Hart County    GA

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm170603_221

June    Hart County    GA

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm170603_222

June    Hart County    GA

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm170603_223

June    Hart County    GA

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm170603_229

June    Hart County    GA

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm170603_230

June    Hart County    GA

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm170603_233

June    Hart County    GA

The pappus bristles of Carduus are simple (vs. feathery in Cirsium), per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm170603_235

June    Hart County    GA

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

Ron Lance    rwl_carduus_nutans

June    Jackson County    NC

Big Ridge Preserve

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm0507h_22

July    Pocahontas County    WV

Roadside

The heads are not always nodding!

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm060710_013

July    Tucker County    WV

Monongahela National Forest

A nodding head with broad, purplish reflexed involucral bracts, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE involucral bracts of Thistles

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm060710_019

July    Tucker County    WV

Monongahela National Forest

Phyllaries 2-8mm wide, per Weakley's Flora.

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm060710_025

July    Tucker County    WV

Monongahela National Forest

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm060710_029

July    Tucker County    WV

Monongahela National Forest

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

JK Marlow    s060710_b

July    Tucker County    WV

Monongahela National Forest

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

Mary Ellen (Mel) Harte, Bugwood.org    bug_1358309

Month Unknown        

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

Ken Chamberlain, The Ohio State University, Bugwood.org    bug_1560074

Month Unknown        

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

Bruce Ackley, The Ohio State University, Bugwood.org    bug_5437937

Month Unknown        

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

Bruce Ackley, The Ohio State University, Bugwood.org    bug_5437938

Month Unknown        

Leaves very spiny, pinnately lobed, to 10" long and 4" wide", per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

Bruce Ackley, The Ohio State University, Bugwood.org    bug_5437956

Month Unknown        

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

Leslie J. Mehrhoff, University of Connecticut, Bugwood.org    bug_5452032

Month Unknown        

image of Carduus nutans, Nodding Thistle, Musk Thistle

Leslie J. Mehrhoff, University of Connecticut, Bugwood.org    bug_5452046

Month Unknown        

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Carduus nutans   FAMILY Asteraceae__

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Carduus nutans   FAMILY Asteraceae__

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Carduus nutans

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Carduus nutans

INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Carduus nutans ssp. macrolepis

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-25-014:
Carduus nutans   FAMILY Asteraceae__

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

258

Forb
Biennial

Habitat: Fields, roadsides, disturbed areas, per Weakley's Flora

Non-native: Eurasia

Common in Mountains, uncommon in Piedmont, rare in Coastal Plain

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.


INVASIVE

This plant is causing problems in natural areas outside its native range, according to authorities such as:

 

IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Leaf margins spiny

LEAVES:
Simple: Lobed, unlobed and/or dissected
Alternate

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Disc: Purplish
Rays: Absent
Inferior ovary
Bisexual

FRUIT:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Achene

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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