Carduus nutans is a biennial plant in the daisy and sunflower family Asteraceae with the common names musk thistle, [1] 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.

How to identify musk thistle. Musk thistle (Carduus nutans) is a biennial herbaceous plant, between one to seven feet tall. Musk thistle (also known as nodding thistle) overwinters in the rosette stage, four to eighteen inches wide. Second year plants usually bolt in late May.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Species Profile: Musk Thistle. Crowds out native species and forage for livestock (Zouhar 2002)

Uses and Values: Musk thistle is unpalatable to livestock. Its seeds are eaten by songbirds, and it is a butterfly plant. Poisoning: None Historical: In Eurasia, dried flowers of musk thistle have been used to curdle milk. The pith of second year plants and roots of first year plants are occasionally boiled and eaten. Other: Musk thistle is an

Musk, or nodding thistle is an aggressive, biennial herb with showy red-purple flowers and painful spiny stems and leaves. Mature plants range in height from 11⁄2 to 6 feet tall, and have multi-branched stems. Leaves are dark green, coarsely lobed, with a smooth waxy surface and a yellowish to white spine at the tip.

Native to Eurasia, Musk Thistle was possibly accidentally introduced in 1852 through ballast water. It is an aggressive, spiny plant with showy red-purple flower heads that droop or nod. It resembles several native thistles.

Common Name (s): Musk Thistle & Nodding Thistle. Scientific Name: Carduus nutans L. Scientific Name Synonyms: None known. Symbol: CANU4. Description: Life Span: Biennial, Perennial. Origin: Introduced. Season: Cool. Growth Characteristics: A colony-forming weed, growing up to 6 feet tall, with a spiny stem and long fleshy taproot.

An invasive native of Eurasia that is spreading in Missouri, musk thistle is a plant you should know. Learn how to tell the difference between our native thistles and these bad guys.

The Musk thistle is a common species of chalky soils and can be found on rough grassland, roadside verges, waste ground and scrub. Its large, nodding flower heads are distinctive and appear from June to August.

Musk thistle is a biennial thistle that is a rosette of leaves in its first year and sends up a flowering stalk in its second year, then dies. Musk thistle is also sometimes called "nodding thistle" because the flower heads can droop to a 90 degree angle instead of facing toward the sky.