Thistle

Thistle Overview

Onopordum is a genus of 46 accepted species of upright biennial (occasionally short-lived perennial) flowering plants in the thistle tribe of the Asteraceae family. This genus is native to southern Europe, northern Africa, the Canary Islands, the Caucasus, and southwest and central Asia. They are generally found growing on disturbed land, roadsides, arable land and pastures. They have basal rosettes of spiny, grey-green, felted pinnately-divided leaves and branched, spinose winged stems topped by thistle-like purple flower heads followed by decorative seedheads.