Minnesota Seasons - musk thistle

Overview • Description • Distribution • Taxonomy

Overview

Musk thistle is an exotic weedy plant. It is native to Europe and Asia and was introduced into North America. It was first reported in the eastern United States in the early 1900s. Since its initial introduction, it has aggressively spread across the continent, largely due to its highly effective seed dispersal mechanisms. Today, Musk Thistle is widely established throughout much of the United States, particularly in the central and eastern regions, and continues to expand its range.

Musk Thistle is universally considered a noxious weed across its introduced range. Its designation as a weed stems primarily from its highly competitive nature and its ability to rapidly colonize and dominate disturbed and undisturbed sites alike.

It outcompetes native vegetation and desirable forage species, leading to reduced biodiversity in natural areas and decreased productivity in agricultural lands. Its prolific seed production and rapid growth cycle make it particularly challenging to control once established.

Musk thistle thrives in a variety of open, disturbed habitats, including pastures, rangelands, roadsides, fencerows, and abandoned fields. It prefers sites with full sun and well-drained soils but can tolerate a range of soil conditions. In Minnesota, flowering typically occurs from late spring through mid-summer, generally from May to August, though this can vary slightly depending on local climate and specific growing conditions.

Description

Musk thistle is a robust, herbaceous biennial plant, meaning it completes its life cycle over two years. In its first year, it forms a low-lying rosette of basal leaves. In the second year, it produces a tall, erect flowering stalk. The plant typically reaches a height of 2 to 6 feet (0.6 to 1.8 meters), though individual plants can be shorter or taller depending on environmental conditions. The stalk is generally branched, especially in the upper half, and is characterized by spiny wings running longitudinally along its length.

The basal leaves are large, deeply lobed, and spiny, forming a prominent rosette at the base of the plant. They can be up to 12 inches (30 cm) long. The stem leaves are alternate along the stalk, progressively smaller higher up the stem, and similarly lobed and spiny. They are sessile, meaning they lack a leaf stalk (petiole), and they run down the stem as spiny wings.

The protective structure surrounding the base of the flower head (involucre) is broadly urn-shaped and composed of numerous, overlapping, spine-tipped, modified leaves (bracts). These bracts bend sharply backward as the flower head matures, giving the involucre a distinctive appearance.

The flower head is large and solitary, typically nodding or “musking” (hence the common name) as it matures. It is composed entirely of small, tubular flowers (disk florets), ranging in color from rose-purple to deep purple. The florets are numerous and densely packed, creating a showy, often globe-shaped or slightly ovoid flower head that can be 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.5 cm) in diameter.


Distribution
		Sources 2, 3, 5, 7, 22, 24, 28, 29, 30. Biodiversity occurrence data published by: Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas (accessed through the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Portal, bellatlas.umn.edu, 5/17/2025). Most sources show musk thistle absent or mostly absent from the northwest, north-central, and central parts of the state. EDDMapS and BONAP (light green on the map) show it widespread throughout the state.
5/17/2025


Taxonomy
Kingdom	Plantae (green algae and land plants)
Subkingdom	Viridiplantae (green plants)
Infrakingdom	Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)
Superdivision	Embryophyta (land plants)
Division	Tracheophyta (vascular plants)
Subdivision	Spermatophytina (seed plants) / Angiospermae (flowering plants)
Class	Magnoliopsida (flowering plants)
Superorder	Asteranae
Order	Asterales (sunflowers, bellflowers, fanflowers, and allies)
Family	Asteraceae (sunflowers, daisies, asters, and allies)
Subfamily	Carduoideae (thistles and allies)
Tribe	Cardueae
Subtribe	Carduinae (thistles and burdocks)
Genus	Carduus (plumeless thistles)

Cardueae is a synonym of the tribe name. Cynareae was published first and has precedence. Nevertheless, most sources use the name Cardueae for the tribe.

Subordinate Taxa
musk thistle (Carduus nutans ssp. alpicola) musk thistle (Carduus nutans ssp. falcatoincurvus) musk thistle (Carduus nutans ssp. granatensis) musk thistle (Carduus nutans ssp. leio) musk thistle (Carduus nutans ssp. leiophyllus) musk thistle (Carduus nutans ssp. litoralis) musk thistle (Carduus nutans ssp. macrocephalus) musk thistle (Carduus nutans ssp. macrolepis) musk thistle (Carduus nutans ssp. maurus) musk thistle (Carduus nutans ssp. micropterus) musk thistle (Carduus nutans ssp. numidicus) musk thistle (Carduus nutans ssp. nutans) musk thistle (Carduus nutans ssp. perspinosus) musk thistle (Carduus nutans ssp. platylepis) musk thistle (Carduus nutans ssp. platypus) musk thistle (Carduus nutans ssp. scabrisquamus) musk thistle (Carduus nutans ssp. siculus) musk thistle (Carduus nutans ssp. taygeteus) musk thistle (Carduus nutans ssp. trojanus) musk thistle (Carduus nutans var. cossonianus) musk thistle (Carduus nutans var. sporadum)

Synonyms
Carduus lecophyllus Carduus songaricus

Common Names
musk thistle nodding plumeless thistle nodding plumeless-thistle nodding thistle plumeless thistle


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Nancy Lundquist


Alfredo Colon


*The Musk Thistle, Carduus nutans, in different phases*

Laura Baxley


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Slideshows

Carduus nutans
Susanne Wiik

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Nikketistel, Nodding thistle

Carduus nutans
Matt Lavin

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Introduced annual to biennial herb with stems upwards of 1.5 m tall, the capillary bristles reveal this is not a species of Cirsium and the broad involucral bracts (phyllaries), over 2 mm wide, readily distinguish this species, common in disturbed sites from low elevation to mountain meadows.

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Nodding Thistle (Carduus Nutans) / Musk Thistle - 2012-06-12
W3stlander

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Published on Jun 14, 2012

The Musk thistle or Nodding thistle (Carduus nutans) is a member of the sunflower family Asteraceae.

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De knikkende distel (Carduus nutans) is een plant uit de composietenfamilie (Asteraceae)

Weed of the Week #758-Musk Thistle (Air Date 10/14/12)
AgPhD's channel

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Published on Oct 17, 2012

It's our Weed of the Week, Musk Thistle

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