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Purple and Blue Wildflower Gallery

Thistles and the like

Asteraceae (Compositae) - Sunflower family

Texas Thistle Cirsium texanum

Flower about 1" wide.  Plant shown is about 5 feet tall.

Photo taken in Taylor County, Texas, May 2002

(Native of Texas)

Asteraceae (Compositae) - Sunflower family

Wavyleaf Thistle Cirsium undulatum

Flower about 4" wide, one flower on a stalk.  Flower ball is thorny and can have white center stripes on the "scales".   Plant can flower from 1-5 feet tall.  Leaves are wavy and have lots of thorns.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, May - June 2004

(Native of Texas)

Asteraceae (Compositae) - Sunflower family

Bull Thistle (Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Horrid Thistle) Cirsium horridulum

Flowers tend to be clumped together on short stalks at the top of a tall main stalk.  Flower color can be lavender or light yellow.  Anthers of flowers will bend toward a light touch, like a bee, to help in pollination.  Leaves are very sharp and grow in a prickly rosette before sending up a flowering stalk.  White hairs give the stems and leaves a silvery glow.  Plant can reach 5 feet.  Insects love the honey.  Larger animals will eat the flowers if they can miss the spines.

Flower photos taken by Sonnia Hill in Van Zandt County, Texas, April 2003

Rosette photo taken in Van Zandt County, Texas, November 2006

(Native of Texas)

Yellow Variation

Photos taken by Sonnia Hill in Brazoria County, Texas, April 2006

Similar Species

Tall Thistle Cirsium altissimum

Flower color can be lavender or white.  Flower base has thin bristle tips.   (Native of Texas)

Soft Thistle (Carolina Thistle, Purple Thistle) Cirsium carolinianum

Plant is weakly stemmed.  (Native of Texas)

Swamp Thistle Cirsium muticum

Flower base has no spines.  (Native of Texas)

Yellowspine Thistle Cirsium ochrocentrum

Spines on leaves and flower base are yellow.  Roots can be cooked or eaten raw.  Peeled stems are cooked as greens.  Young leaves are edible or can be steeped as tea.  (Native of Texas)

Bull Thistle (Scotch Thistle, Spear Thistle) Cirsium vulgare

Flower base is long and bulbous.  Flowers are clustered at the end of stems.  This is the thistle of Scotland.  (Introduced from Europe)

Apiaceae - Parsley family

Eryngo Eryngium leavenworthii

This is not a thistle, as it is not in the family Compositae (Asteraceae).  It starts out green then turns entirely purple!  Flowers are tiny, clustered on the fuzzy head.  Multiple heads form at end of stem with the oldest about 1" long.  Spiny bracts crown both ends of head.  Leaves are spiny.  Plants grow 5-6 feet tall.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, August-September 2005

(Native of Texas)

Asteraceae (Compositae) - Sunflower family

Basket Flower Centaurea americana

This is not a thistle.  Flower about 4" wide.  Plant about 4 feet tall.

Photos taken in Coleman County, Texas, May 2004

(Native of Texas)

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