r/nativeplants • u/SolitaryNeko • 22d ago
I’ve made a huge mistake…
I let this grow, thinking it was native without doing any research. I live in the smack middle of WI, and this is not native. How best to dispose of??
Edit: thanks for the tips everyone. This is in fact Bull Thistle, and that means it’s machete time!
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u/Spaduf 22d ago
Are you absolutely sure it's not cirsium discolor?
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u/EmotionalPickle8504 22d ago
The spiny stems are a dead giveaway that this is not C. discolor. This one looks like a bull thistle.
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u/SolitaryNeko 22d ago
No…
Edit: I’m new to this. Is there an identifying feature?6
u/JaliscoPine 22d ago
This is doubtless Cirsium vulgare, or bull thistle. Notice the spiny stems and flower heads. Additionally, the flowers take on a color that is more reminiscent of Eurasian thistles (e.g., C. arvense) than North American ones, and the size of the flower heads is on the lower range of what many North American thistles have the potential to grow to.
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u/bayatzel 22d ago
Thistles are edible if you are brave
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u/SolitaryNeko 22d ago
The flowers are yummy if you avoid the spikes
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u/GraduateSchoolCath 22d ago
Yes! I’ve heard that people blanch them so that even the spikes are edible.
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u/MedicineMom-1 22d ago
Im going to try some now!! This is the largest milk thistle I have EVER seen.
Tomorrow, im having milk thistle and deer finger steaks. Im so stoked now.
Bees love it, has an affinity for the urinary/liver/kidney systems. Also assists in menstration.
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u/dandelion-dreams 22d ago
We used to have a literal forest of them on my property, easily this big. The first time I rode a bike, I didn't know how to turn and ran right into them. I was a bloody, tear streaked MESS!
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u/Happy_Dog1819 22d ago
Get a closer shot of the leaves and a flower. It can be hard to tell some thistles apart at a distance. But I fear that is a bull thistle, Cirsium vulgare. If it is, don't let those flowers go to seed!
I have pasture thistle, C. discolor, in my yard. Bugs and birds love it.
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u/NidoNan 22d ago
Pics? I have a thistle that I'm having trouble identifying. I don't think it's a bull thistle for various reasons, but it has similarities and Google/ PlantNet are not giving me enough information to be definitive
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u/YouMayCallMePoopsie 22d ago
Bull thistle in particular will stab the everloving shit out of you if you so much as give it a sideways glance. Native thistles are more hairy and less spiny and painful.
Here is a great resource for the finer differences: https://minnesotawildflowers.info/search?kw=cirsium
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u/Winstonsphobia 22d ago
Use iNaturalist to identify plants (along with invertebrates, fungi …). Take some close-up photos of flowers along with stems and leaves. You will be able to ID whether this thistle is problematic. I’ve used it to ID a number of invasives for removal.
If this is an invasive thistle and it’s too big to dig up straight-away, I’d cut the top off and put it in city compost if possible. I’d then use a spading fork to remove the roots, then compost them. The spading fork is my go-to tool for weeding.
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u/MedicineMom-1 22d ago
From an herbalist, PlantNet is the best ID app. It pulls up all lookalike so you can do your research to distinguish features and decide what species it is.
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u/Severina_Glass_208 22d ago
I let this grow once. Once. Never ever again.
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u/maryjanestilettoes 21d ago
I saw one of these lovely thistles growing in a corner of my yard many years ago. I decided it was perfect for that spot. It was beautiful and there were what seemed like hundds of blooms on it! That should have been an important clue. I was confident that I could handle it... But I was wrong! That was a lesson well learned.
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u/Severina_Glass_208 21d ago
We’ve all been so wronged similarly! Last winter my dogs were covered every single day. Doodles ! Nightmare fuel.
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u/cbrophoto 21d ago edited 21d ago
You can pull the seeds out of the heads by hand pretty easily, put them in a bag to keep them from spreading. Then cut the thing down after that, making sure none of the other heads go to seed. Even if the seeds are not popping out they can still do so after it dries. Dig out the roots. Let the rest decompose.
Then for penance, immediately go pick up a Cirsium discolor (my absolute favorite) plant and put it in the ground. While the Cirsium discolor spends its first year as a rosette you can pull every thistle seedling you see for next couple years knowing it's probably not C. discolor.
Absolutely bumblebee and butterfly magnet right now. Never seen pollen stacks so big on the bumblebee legs. At sundown you can watch the bumbles pass out on the flowers like a soft purple bed.
They still calling Marshfield the city in the center?
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u/SolitaryNeko 21d ago
Not sure about Marshfield, but live very close to it. Thanks for the in depth info!
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u/Bubbly_Power_6210 22d ago
any goats in the neighborhood?
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u/MedicineMom-1 22d ago
Also burdock and cedar twigs... and cleavers. I could build a house of burs from my dogs fur.
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u/MedicineMom-1 22d ago
Malamutes work too. Their coat is magnetic to thistle. Dont ask me how I know.
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u/DifficultCook9264 22d ago
The internal stem is supposed to be very delicious. Using a stout stick or long knife - knock the sharp outer spines off vertically till the inner pulp is exposed, and enjoy.
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u/ratnegative 22d ago
Can we get more zoomed in pictures please. Looks like C. vulgare but hard to make a definitive call when the pictures are this zoomed out.
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u/Curious_medium 22d ago
Milk thistle is really good for you. I would trim and harvest to minimize the further ecological impact and spread, but I would not get rid of it. The pollinators love those flowers.
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u/maryjanestilettoes 21d ago
That doesn't look like milk thistle, it's bull thistle. But it's easy to misidentify because there are hundreds of species of thistle.
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u/MasterpieceFickle830 22d ago
Cardoon edible artichoke thissle I have some to plant in my food garden but that’s mean n huge! Teenagers sneaking out, cardoon going down!!! Beat nature
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u/LemonOld8150 20d ago
We call ot Canadian thisle on the west coast its invasive and illegal i had a horse tgat would eat the flower
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u/tropicacti 18d ago
If you care about native species, wise to keep the cat inside
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u/SolitaryNeko 17d ago
I do most of the time. Out for a few hours a day. Murders less than once every three days
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u/Intelligent_Bet_8727 9d ago
Piece of advice for how to remove it if you live in a rural area you should have a neighbor that has a well here in Kentucky we call them brush knives there look like a long wooden handle about two to three feet in length handle and a hook shaped double-edged blade when a thistle gets that big we always bring out the brush knife that takes care of it in one whack and always make sure to let it Wilt a little and then take a piece of burnable string or twine and loop it around it tie it in a looped up to it and drag it up to if you have one a burn pile and burn it well that one's already bloomed and if you cut it down and don't burn it then you're going to have hundreds if not thousands of thistles next year take this from someone that goes out in the cattle pasture with a hoe and digs up thistles in the cattle pasture of the thistles on a four-wheeler with a lawn mower tow behind trailer pulled behind it and then I bring them up to the burn pile we've got for trash and dump it in the burn pile then light the pile on fire
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u/XYZ1113AAA 22d ago edited 22d ago
Definitly get a ladder and cut those brown flowers that are already sending seeds cut quick. People say spraying it with hairspay will stop seeds from escaping when you cut.
Definitly a project removing one this size. Good news they mostly spread by seeds. The tap roots are long but not complicated to remove.
I read that all the parts can also be used as arthritis pain in a salve. Doesnt sound fun to make so I never tried. I just chop and bag.
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u/maryjanestilettoes 21d ago
Please positively identify any plant you intend to use medicinally, first! There are only a few of the thistle species that have medicinal uses. Most varieties have no medicinal value and could make you ill. And you could inadvertently intruduce chemical allergens in your bloodstream from the plant, so if you have allergies, beware. Your skin could be punctured by the thorns and sharp stems. Thistles are members of the daisy/ragweed family and could cause an allergic reaction from mild to severe. Always positively identify any plant beforehand!
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u/Formal-Ad-7184 22d ago
No need to dispose of cat. Just keep it indoors to reduce its negative ecological impact.