Cirsium discolor (Muhlenberg ex Willdenow) Sprengel. Common name: Field Thistle. Phenology: Aug-Nov. Habitat: Pastures, woodlands, thickets. Distribution: QC west to MB, south to NC, MS, LA, and KS.
Origin/Endemic status: Native
Synonymy ⓘ: = Ar, C, F, FNA19, G, Il, K1, K3, K4, Mi, NE, NY, Oh3, Pa, S, SE1, Tn, Va, W; = Carduus discolor (Muhl. ex Willd.) Nutt. – RAB
Links to other floras: = Cirsium discolor - FNA19
Wetland Indicator Status:
- Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: UPL
- Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: UPL
- Great Plains: FACU
- Midwest: FACU
- Northcentral & Northeast: UPL
Heliophily ⓘ: 8
Hover over a shape, letter, icon, or arrow on the map for definition or see the legend.










Feedback
See something wrong or missing on about Cirsium discolor? Let us know here: (Please include your name and email if at all complicated so we can clarify if needed.) We greatly appreciate feedback, and will include updates from you in our next webapp update, which can take a few months.
Horticultural Information
Intro: Erect biennial/perennial of pastures, floodplain forests, woodlands, clearings and thickets.
Stems: Stems strongly furrowed, branched near the top, usually hairy.
Leaves: Leaves alternate, short-petiolate to sessile, lance-shaped or oval, 4-10 in. long (reduced upward), deeply divided into sharp-tipped and variably sized lobes, with yellowish prickles on the margins and densely white-woolly beneath.
Inforescence:
Flowers: Composite flowers (heads) 1-several at top of stem, subtended by small bract-like leaves; heads 1 1/2-2 in. wide, consisting of numerous purple to white tubular florets, each with 5 thread-like lobes. Tightly held green and white, spiny bracts surround the urn-shaped base of each head.
Fruits: Fruit a fluffy cluster of seeds, each with a tuft of white hairs.
Comments:
Height: 2-8 ft.
plant sale text:
bloom table text:
description: Erect biennial/perennial of pastures, floodplain forests, woodlands, clearings and thickets.
stems: Stems strongly furrowed, branched near the top, usually hairy.
leaves: Leaves alternate, short-petiolate to sessile, lance-shaped or oval, 4-10 in. long (reduced upward), deeply divided into sharp-tipped and variably sized lobes, with yellowish prickles on the margins and densely white-woolly beneath.
inflorescence:
flowers: Composite flowers (heads) 1-several at top of stem, subtended by small bract-like leaves; heads 1 1/2-2 in. wide, consisting of numerous purple to white tubular florets, each with 5 thread-like lobes. Tightly held green and white, spiny bracts surround the urn-shaped base of each head.
fruits: Fruit a fluffy cluster of seeds, each with a tuft of white hairs.
comments:
cultural notes:
germination code:
native range: