Originating in Eurasia, musk thistle was introduced into the … Thistle is the old English name - essentially the same in all kindred languages - for a large family of plants occurring chiefly in Europe and Asia, of which we have fourteen species in Great Britain, arranged under the botanical groups Carduus, Carlina, Onopordon and Carbenia, or Cnicus. Foliage Leaves are green and lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate. As with many other thistles in America, carduus nutans is an introduced species, native to Asia and Europe, now a troublesome weed across most of the US. Carduus species may hybridize with each other. plumeless thistle. Appearance Carduus nutans is an herbaceous, biennial plant that grows to 6 ft. (1.8 m) tall. However, musk thistle can be distinguished from other thistles by its large, disk-shaped, apical flower heads. The stem has very spiny wings. Description of the plant: It is native to regions of Europe and Asia. Herb: Musk Thistle Latin name: Carduus nutans Family: Compositae Medicinal use of Musk Thistle: The flowers are febrifuge and are used to purify the blood. The flowers of the Musk thistle have a sweet, musky smell, hence the common name. Family Asteraceae Scientific Name Carduus nutans ← → Other Common Names: plumeless thistle. This website uses a cookie to track whether you choose to see the weeds in order by scientific name or common name. This has proved of benefit in the prevention of atherosclerosis. Carduus nutans, with the common names musk thistle, nodding thistle, and nodding plumeless thistle, is a biennial herb in the Asteraceae—sunflower family. musk thistle. Musk Thistle. and bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare [Savi. Description. The flower head is formed of numerous narrow disc florets, rich purple in color, and reaching a diameter of 2 inches. Its scientific name is Carduus nutans L. of the family Asteraceae (Sunflower family). Introduced into the United States as an ornamental plant in the mid 1800s. – Nodding thistle, Nodding Plumeless thistle Scientific name: Carduus nutans L. Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower family) Description Origin: Eurasia. How people can help Although they might not look especially wildlife-friendly, our roadside verges, railway cuttings and waste grounds can provide valuable habitats for all kinds of plants and animals. Musk thistle is a non-native biennial forb but can behave occasionally as an annual. ]), also non-native in the US. Musk thistle is similar to Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense [L.] Scop.) For musk thistle on severely disturbed sites, apply of 2, 4-D ester or dicamba in early bolting phase. This report uses Carduus nutans L. as the scientific name for the musk thistle complex as it occurs in North America [8,17,37,42,53,60,67,74,87,94,112,128,130]. 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