Description:

Leaves:

• alternate
• dark green with a conspicuous light green midrib, often with silvery edges
• smooth and hairless on both the top and bottom surfaces
• edges serrated, with lobes ending in white spines

Stems:

• spiny, with a "winged" appearance
• hairless
• highly branched

Flowers:

• deep rose to violet in color
• stem at base of flower head often bends, giving this plant the common name of "nodding thistle"
• a single bloom forms at the top of each stem, but one plant may produce up to 70 flower heads

Root:

• large, fleshy taproot