Bull Thistle

Member of Thistle Family

Blooms: May - June

These plants can grow up to 5 ft. tall.

They are covered with prickly spines, so you really don't want to pick them, but they have very beautiful blooms.

There are some 18 species of thistle in Texas, this one is very common in North East Texas and we have a "bumper" crop this year.

Once the beautiful flower dries, it's spiney bracts will dry and become white, being scattered by the winds, spreading it's seeds. Many of the song birds pull the "fluffy" seeds out and line their nests with them as well as feeding on it's seeds. Click on the picture and you can see all the pollen on the tips of it's bracts. Bees and and the Black Swallowtail Butterflies love it's sweetness. Often thought of as a troublemsome weed, it is actually a beautiful plant.

In nature, nothing goes to waste, as the birds and insects use this plant for food and shelter.

And JESUS said unto him, " The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath no where to lay his head."

Matthew 8:20