Plant Form: Basal rosette, then upright stalks topped with flowerheads
Height: To about 7 feet.
Stems: Usually a single main stem that branches above to a few stems.
Leaves: Green with woolly hairs (tomentose) especially on the underside of the leaf. Basal
leaves 4-8 inches, long and narrow with spiked lobes. Upper leaves few, small, spiny. Main spines on leaves to almost 1 inch.
Flowers: Blooms in the summer. Inflorescence: flowerhead formed of many flowers. Flowers emerge
from a round, spiky ball (involucre) that only gets to about 1-inch diameter (small for a thistle); involucre spines to about 1/3-inch. Flowers white to lavender. |