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Tried and True Native Plant Selections
for the Mid-Atlantic
Print Version (Legal Size):
Cirsium discolor (Field Thistle)
Despite their importance to the ecosystem—they provide copious late summer nectar and seed to myriad winged visitors—indigenous thistles have acquired an undeserved notoriety, often mistaken for invasive, alien thistles. Native* to meadows and forest edges mostly in the eastern half of the U.S., Field Thistle can be distinguished from the weedy, European bull thistle by the white undersides of its leaves and spineless stems.
*It is native to DC and common in DE. It is found in PA and mostly in MD’s Piedmont and Coastal Plain. It is frequent throughout VA, although it has not been reported in Arlington County in NoVA. You can view the VA counties in which it has been reported here.
Learn more about other Mid-Atlantic plants:
Tried and True Native Plant Fact Sheets