Cirsium horridulum

Purple Thistle, Yellow Thistle

Form:	Flower
Life Span:	Annual to short-lived perennial
Flower Color:	White,pink,purple
Fruit Color:	White
Phenology:	Winter dormant
Noted for:	Showy flowers, Interesting foliage, Thorns

Recommended Uses:

Natural landscapes including meadows and butterfly gardens.

Considerations:

Purple thistle is a thorny plant - be very careful when handling.

Propagation:

Readily self seeds. Following pollination the flower head can be bagged to collect the seed head which follows.

Availability:

Seed

Light:

Full Sun, Part Shade

Moisture Tolerance:

always floodedextremely dry

(Somewhat moist, no flooding ----- to ----- Somewhat long very dry periods)

Moisture Tolerance:

Somewhat moist, no flooding ----- to ----- Somewhat long very dry periods

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Tolerant of occasional/brief inundation such as can occur in storm surges.

Salt Spray/ Salty Soil Tolerance:

Some tolerance to salty wind but not direct salt spray.

Soil or other substrate:

Sand

Soil pH:

6.1 - 7.8

Wildlife:

The seeds are rich in oil, an important food source for seed-eating birds.

Insects:

Larval host to little metalmark (Calephelis virginiensis) and painted lady (Vanessa cardui) butterflies.
Nectar source for native butterflies and bumblebees. Bees documented in Florida include Evylaeus pectoralis, Halictus ligatus, Lithurgzcs gibbosus, Megachile brevis pseudobrevis, and the non-native Apis mellifera (honeybee) (Deyrup et al. 2002).
Beetles eat the flowers.
Provides nesting material for some native bees (based on information provided by the Xerces Society to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center)

Native Habitats:

Coastal plain, edges of salt marshes, pinewoods, prairies and disturbed areas.

Suitable to grow in:
10A 10B 11 8A 8B 9A 9B

USDA zones are based on minimum winter temperatures

Ethnobotany:

Members of the Seminole tribe used parts of this plant to make blowgun darts.