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Carduus nutans
Also called Nodding thistle, Nodding plumeless thistle, Chardon Penche, Musk Thistle, Chardon Penche, Plumeless Thistle, Bastard Scotch Thistle
Musk thistle is a prickly biennial weed of the daisy family, native to Europe and Central Asia and invasive in North America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It is grown only as a weed to be controlled, not as a garden plant.
Carduus nutans is a biennial plant in the daisy and sunflower family Asteraceae with the common names musk thistle, nodding thistle, and nodding plumeless thistle. It is native to regions of Europe, Central Asia, and North Africa, where it is a scattered pasture plant. The musk thistle has been declared as invasive in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
Carduus nutans is native to Europe, Western Siberia, Asia, and North Africa. It has become invasive in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Southern Africa. It is abundant in the North American Rocky Mountains. The plant can grow at least to an elevation of 1,830 m (6,000 ft). It typically grows in meadows and grasslands, in heavily grazed land in areas such as pastures, and on open disturbed soil such as roadsides and building sites. It is found in neutral to acidic soils. It spreads rapidly in areas subjected to frequent natural disturbances such as landslides and flooding, but does not grow well in excessively wet, dry, or shady conditions.
Carduus argentatus · Curly plumeless thistle · Italian plumeless thistle · Plumeless thistle
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Carduus nutans by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
