There’s some interesting activity afoot in the cropfields and pastures of Colorado, Utah and Montana, as researchers explore a new biocontrol method for Canada thistle, by delicately sprinkling, ...

Thistles may be best known for their spiny leaves and stems. I think of them as going by the philosophy, “The best defense is a lot of sharp points,” like cactuses and roses. A thistle’s spines are ...

This-le, noun, widely distributed herbaceous plant of the daisy family, typically has prickly stems and leaves and rounded heads of purple flowers. There are more than 62 varieties of native thistles ...

Enter milk thistle: a natural aid to improve digestion. Silybum marianum is the scientific name for the medicinal plant whose ...

Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) is an aggressive, creeping perennial weed that infests crops, pastures, rangeland, roadsides and noncrop areas. Generally, infestations start on disturbed ground, ...

Sow thistles look like scraggly dandelions with spiny leaves. Vicky McMillan Provided Sow thistles look rather like scraggly dandelions with prickly leaves. They’re neither dandelions nor thistles, ...

Thistles have reputations as especially prickly plants, and species found in Northcentral Texas and Southwestern Oklahoma are not exceptions. Some cultures and traditions have low regard for thistles.

The silent Summit County invaders are gaining even more territory. Noxious weeds are non-native plants that out-compete native species, form monocultures and cause local ecosystems to lose their ...

One bird species, however, cannot start nesting until the thistle plants have bloomed and are producing down and seeds. It’s the fluffy, white down the American goldfinch uses to build its nest, and ...