Cirsium nuttallii

Cirsium nuttallii, called Nuttall's thistle, is a North American species of plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae. The species is native to the coastal plain of the southeastern and south-central United States, from eastern Texas to southeastern Virginia.^[2]

Cirsium nuttallii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Cirsium
Species:	C. nuttallii
Binomial name
Cirsium nuttallii DC.
Synonyms[1]
Carduus glaber Nutt. 1818 not Cirsium glabrum DC. 1805 Carduus nuttallii (DC.) Pollard Carduus virginianus Bosc ex DC. 1838 not L. 1753 Cnicus glaber (Nutt.) Elliott Cnicus nuttallii A.Gray

Cirsium nuttallii is a biennial or perennial herb up to 350 cm (almost 12 feet) tall, with a large taproot. Leaves are up to 60 cm (24 inches) long with thin, green on the upper side but gray to white on the underside because of numerous woolly hairs; spines along the edges of the leaves. There are a few flower heads, each head with white, pink, purple or lavender disc florets but no ray florets.^[3]