Cirsium horridulum

Michx.

Bull thistle, Purple thistle, Spiny thistle

Asteraceae Edible: Leaves 23,483 iNaturalist observations

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iNaturalist· cc-by-nc

Summary

Cirsium horridulum, called bristly thistle, purple thistle, or yellow thistle is a North American species of plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae. It is an annual or biennial. The species is native to the eastern and southern United States from New England to Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma as well as to Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Bahamas. Thomas Nuttall (1786-1859) described var. megacanthum as "one of the most terribly armed plants in the genus."

Description

A temperate thistle herb in the Asteraceae family. The leaves are edible and traditionally cooked as salad greens or as a cooked vegetable.

This description is brief — help expand it

Edible Uses

The leaves are cooked as salad greens and as a cooked vegetable.

Traditional Uses

The leaves are cooked as salad greens and cooked as a vegetable.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Distribution

It is a temperate plant.

Where It Grows

Mexico, North America, USA,

Synonyms

Several

Also Known As

Yellow thistle

References (2)

Kermath, B. M., et al, 2014, Food Plants in the Americas: A survey of the domesticated, cultivated and wild plants used for Human food in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. On line draft. p 231
Tozer, F., 2007, The Uses of Wild Plants. Green Man Publishing. p 69