| Description | A native biennial thistle that can reach up to 7 plus feet tall. |
|---|---|
| Plant Type | All Plants, Wild Flowers |
| Hardiness Zone | 5 |
| Sunlight | full |
| Moisture | average |
| Soil & Site | found in wet to dry-medium prairies |
| Flowers | pinkish, borne on terminal stems, single, bell shaped involucre consists of 8 rows of over lapping bracts, outer row bracts terminate in a sharp spine, ray flowers absent, disk flowers (center) with pink corollas, life cycle is biennial |
| Fruit | seeds are achenes with pappus(thistle down), can float in the air |
| Leaves | simple, alternate, deeply lobed, each tooth with a sharp spine, green and smooth on top, white-felt below |
| Stems | stems lack wings, good Id feature |
| Roots | taproot |
| Dimensions | 3-7 feet, upright, I have seen these many times towering over my head |
| Propagation | seeds |
| Misc Facts | The genus name "cirsium" derived from Greek for a kind of thistle. The species name "discolor from Greek di meaning two. Probably referring to the colors of the upper and lower surface of the leaves. |
| Notes & Reference | References: #56-Tall Grass Prairie Wildflowers (Doug Ladd),#100-Wildflowers of Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest (Merel Black and Emmet Judziewicz), #140-Prairie Plants of the UW Madison Arboretum (Theodore Cochrane, Kandis Elliot, Claudia Lipke), #145-Plant Lives (Sue Eland) web site |
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