Japanese thistle is a spiny perennial thistle native to East Asia, including Japan, Korea, and China, and it doesn't grow wild in the United States. Its reddish-purple flower heads sit on a green, ball-shaped base that is sticky to the touch. It's also called plumed thistle or sea thistle.
Appearance
- Appearance
- Stems reach about 2–3.3 ft (60–100 cm) tall and branch near the top.
- Leaves
- The leaves are deeply lobed, a bit like a dandelion leaf, and each tooth ends in a stiff, sharp spine.
- Flowers
- Upright flower heads about 1.5–2 in (4–5 cm) across, usually reddish purple, sometimes pale purple or white. The green, ball-shaped base of the flower head is sticky to the touch.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Meadows
- Roadsides
- Riverbanks
- Range
- Native to Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Not known to occur in the United States outside of cultivation.
- Preferred conditions
- In Japan it grows in sunny fields, grasslands, roadsides, and riverbanks.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
- Status
- California has listed it as a for many years, even though it isn't known to be established anywhere in the United States.
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