Carduus nutans

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Distribution Map: Based on vouchered plant specimens only. View county names by placing the mouse cursor over a particular county.

Family:	ASTERACEAE
Species:	Carduus nutans L.
Common Name:	Nodding Thistle; Musk Thistle
Habitat:	**
Associated Ecological Communities:	**
Growth Habit:	Herb
Duration:	Biennial
Category:	Vascular
USDA Symbol:	**
Plant Notes:	Nodding Thistle is an herbaceous introduced annual or biennial in the Sunflower family (Asteraceae). It is native to Asia and Europe. In Alabama in can be found primarily in the northern half of the state. Nodding Thistle occurs in pastures, on roadsides, and along railroads. It is an annual or biennial with a tap root. Stems are 3-7 feet in height, green in color, branched or unbranched, and pubescent or glabrous. The stem is winged with spiny tissue decurrent from the base of the leaves. Leaves are basal and cauline. Basal leaves from a rosette. The basal leaves are larger and have winged petioles. The cauline leaves are sessile. Leaves are elliptic to lanceolate in outline, pinnately dissected or lobed, and glabrous or arachnose pubescent. The leaves have stiff, sharp spines along their margins. Flowers are produced in heads. The heads are solitary, long pedunculate, and often nodding. The phyllaries are spine-tipped and purplish in color. The heads contain 1200+ tubular, purple disc flowers. The fruit is a ribbed achene with a tuff of pappus bristles at its apex. Nodding Thistle is listed as a category 2 invasive species by the Alabama Invasive Plant Council. The Thistle-head Weevil (Rhinocyllus conicus) was introduced in North America from its native range in Europe and Western Asia in an attempt to control Nodding Thistle. The Weevil has attacked native species of thistle in the genus Cirsium, and the impacts on some has been quite significant. Thistle-head Weevil is now also considered an invasive species.--A. Diamond
Taxonomic Notes:	**
Status:	Not Native
References:	**
Specimen:	View specimen details in the Alabama Herbarium Consortium Specimen Database

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

Family	ASTERACEAE - Aster family
Genus	Carduus
Species	Carduus nutans L. - Nodding Thistle; Musk Thistle

Citation

Citation	Carduus nutans Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 821. 1753.
Basionym:	**
Type:	Without data, (lectotype: LINN 966.2). Lectotypified by Kazmi in Mitt. Bot. Staatssamml. München 5 : 323. 1964.

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

Synonym	Full Citation	Basionym	Type
Carduus nutans ssp. macrolepis

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chambers, Crenshaw, DeKalb, Etowah, Jackson, Lee, Limestone, Madison, Marengo, Marshall, Montgomery, Morgan, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: ALNHS, AMAL, AUA, BRIT, JSU, TROY, UNA, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: 1952 - 1952

Barcode / Accession No.	County	Coll. Date	Collector & Collection No.	Herbarium & Herbarium Name Used
AMAL00017783	Jackson	14 May 2009	Barger, T. Wayne HC-98	AMAL Carduus nutans L.
AUA000038327	Morgan	5 Jun 2016	England, J. Kevin 6528	AUA Carduus Nutans L.
JSU104321	Calhoun	31 May 1982	Whetstone, R. David 11277	JSU Carduus nutans Linnaeus
ALNHS00005082	Crenshaw	09 MAY 2017	Barger, T. Wayne SP#3231	ALNHS Carduus nutans L.
AUA000040446	Lee	17 Apr 2017	Barger, T. Wayne CSP624	AUA Carduus Nutans L.
JSU104326	Madison	11 May 1996	Spaulding, Daniel D. 8382	JSU Carduus nutans Linnaeus
AMAL00002782	Calhoun	23 May 2002	Spaulding, Daniel D. 11310	AMAL Carduus nutans L. ssp. macrolepis (Peterm.) Kazmi
UWAL0032600	Morgan	05 Jun 2016	England, J. Kevin 6528	UWAL Carduus nutans Linnaeus
AMAL00002784	DeKalb	13 May 2002	Spaulding, Daniel D. 11286	AMAL Carduus nutans L. ssp. macrolepis (Peterm.) Kazmi
TROY000050681	Morgan	15 May 2012	England, J. Kevin 3475	TROY Carduus nutans Linnaeus
AMAL00018329	Jackson	19 May 2010	Barger, T. Wayne HC-506	AMAL Carduus nutans L.
JSU104322	Etowah	05 Jun 1994	Hodge, Lesley M. 1815	JSU Carduus nutans Linnaeus
UWAL0035213	Limestone	02 Jun 2017	England, J. Kevin 7891	UWAL Carduus nutans Linnaeus
JSU104320	Calhoun	31 May 1982	Whetstone, R. David 11277	JSU Carduus nutans Linnaeus
TROY000045350	Marengo	13 May 2013	England, J. Kevin 4248	TROY Carguus nutans Linnaeus
AUA000038297	Limestone	2 Jun 2017	England, J. Kevin 7891	AUA Carduus Nutans L.
AUA000040447	Lee	17 Apr 2017	Barger, T. Wayne CSP624	AUA Carduus Nutans L.
JSU104328	Morgan	19 May 1996	Whetstone, R. David 17636	JSU Carduus nutans Linnaeus
AUA000024748	Lee	13 May 2009	Hansen, Curtis J. 3917	AUA Carduus Nutans L.
AMAL00002785	DeKalb	13 May 2002	Spaulding, Daniel D. 11286	AMAL Carduus nutans L. ssp. macrolepis (Peterm.) Kazmi
UNA00059373	Chambers	15 Jun 2002	Spaulding, Daniel D. 11387	UNA Carduus nutans L. subsp. macrolepis (Peterm.) Kazmi
AUA000001998	Bibb	10 Jul 1999	Smith, S.T.	AUA Carduus Nutans L.
JSU104324	Jackson	20 May 1974	Whetstone, R. David 2696	JSU Carduus nutans Linnaeus
UWAL0014549	Morgan	15 May 2012	England, J. Kevin 3475	UWAL Carduus nutans Linnaeus
JSU104319	Blount	04 Jul 1997	Spaulding, Daniel D. 9716	JSU Carduus nutans Linnaeus
AMAL00002783	Chambers	15 Jun 2002	Spaulding, Daniel D. 11387	AMAL Carduus nutans L. ssp. macrolepis (Peterm.) Kazmi
UNA00059080	Calhoun	23 May 2002	Spaulding, Daniel D. 11310	UNA Carduus nutans L. subsp. macrolepis (Peterm.) Kazmi
UNA00027073	Tuscaloosa	25 May 1952	Williams, B.C. s.n.	UNA Carduus nutans L.
JSU104323	Jackson	01 Jun 1993	Whetstone, R. David s.n.	JSU Carduus nutans Linnaeus
AMAL00008959	Lee	05 May 2004	Hansen, Curtis J. 1401	AMAL Carduus nutans L.
UWAL0017451	Marengo	13 May 2013	England, J. Kevin 4248	UWAL Carduus nutans Linnaeus
AUA000021832	Tallapoosa	31 May 2006	Hansen, Curtis J. 2244	AUA Carduus Nutans L.
TROY000034723	Montgomery	15 Apr 2012	Diamond, Alvin R. 23035	TROY Carduus nutans Linnaeus
TROY000015141	Chambers	15 Jun 2002	Spaulding, Daniel D. 11387	TROY Carduus nutans Linnaeus ssp. macrolepips (Peterm.) Kazmi
TROY000028076	Crenshaw	31 May 2009	Diamond, Alvin R. 20748	TROY Carduus nutans Linnaeus
JSU104329	Talladega	24 May 1992	Ballard, J. Mark 110	JSU Carduus nutans Linnaeus
AUA000001999	Lee	5 May 2004	Hansen, Curtis J. 1401	AUA Carduus Nutans L.
TROY000001621	Lee	05 May 2004	Hansen, Curtis J. 1401	TROY Carduus nutans Linnaeus
TROY000015142	Calhoun	23 May 2002	Spaulding, Daniel D. 11310	TROY Carduus nutans Linnaeus ssp. macrolepips (Peterm.) Kazmi
BRIT67378	Calhoun	23 May 2002	Spaulding, Daniel D. 11311	BRIT Carduus nutans Linneaus ssp. macrolepis (Peterm.) Kazmi
JSU104325	Limestone	26 May 1996	Whetstone, R. David 17783	JSU Carduus nutans Linnaeus
JSU104327	Marshall	24 May 1992	Spaulding, Daniel D. 1831	JSU Carduus nutans Linnaeus
BRIT90469	Calhoun	23 May 2002	Spaulding, Daniel D. 11311	BRIT Carduus nutans Linnaeus ssp. macrolepips (Peterm.) Kazmi

View a List of All Ecological Communities

For more information, contact: Brian R. Keener, Ph.D.

Data last modified: 11/9/2024

Web Development: The Florida Center for Community Design + Research

A member of the University of South Florida family of PlantAtlas.org sites

Citation Information:

Keener, B.R., A.R. Diamond, T.W. Barger, L.J. Davenport, P.G. Davison, S.L. Ginzbarg, C.J. Hansen, D.D. Spaulding, J.K. Triplett, and M. Woods. 2024. Alabama Plant Atlas. [S.M. Landry and K.N. Campbell (original application development), Florida Center for Community Design and Research. University of South Florida]. University of West Alabama, Livingston, Alabama.

Data, text, and images licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Carduus nutans

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Classification

Citation

Synonyms

Specimens and Distribution