Thoughts on the Thistle

Thistles are often thought of as prickly weeds to be avoided if not eradicated, and thus people tend to overlook the beauty of their deep purple inflorescences.

Thistle seeds can also be important as a food source, as everyone who gets an abundance of finches at their feeder knows! In Pennsylvania, we have nine species of native or naturalized thistle, plus a few that have turned up occasionally as weeds. Five of these species are native, the rest are weeds, and some of them, such as the Canada thistle pictured here, can indeed be serious agricultural pests.

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