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Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic
Despite their importance to the ecosystem, native thistles have acquired an undeserved notoriety, often mistaken for invasive, non-native thistles. Field Thistle is native* to meadows and forest edges mostly in the eastern half of the U.S. and can be distinguished from the weedy, European bull thistle by the white undersides of its leaves and spineless stems. It provides copious late summer nectar and seed to myriad winged visitors.
*It is native throughout most of the Mid-Atlantic Region although it has not been reported in NoVA’s Arlington County.
Learn more about Cirsium discolor.