Carduus nutans

{
  "id": "MLC-T-ENV-004244",
  "term": "Carduus nutans",
  "field": "Environment",
  "definition": "Musk, or nodding thistle is an aggressive, biennial herb with showy red-purple flowers and painful spiny stems and leaves. Mature plants range in height from 1½ to 6 feet tall, and have multi-branched stems. Leaves are dark green, coarsely lobed, with a smooth waxy surface and a yellowish to white spine at the tip. The large disk-shaped flower heads, containing hundreds of tiny individual flowers, are 1½ to 3½ inches in length and occur at the tips of stems. Flower heads will droop to a 90-degree angle from the stem when mature, hence its alternate name, nodding thistle. Each plant may produce thousands of straw-colored seeds adorned with plume-like bristles.",
  "references": [
    "National Park Service Plant Conservation Alliance at http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/canu1.htm"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/environment/carduus-nutans/"
}