Spiny plumeless thistle
Very spiny biennial thistle of roadsides, waste ground and pastures; good nectar and pollen for honey bees during the midsummer dearth.
- Nectar
- Good
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 0.3-1.5 m
- Life cycle
- Biennial
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Spiny plumeless thistle is a biennial whose stem is covered along its whole length with spiny wings; it grows on roadsides, fallow fields, overgrazed pastures and waste ground around settlements. Its pink-purple heads open singly or in small groups. The many florets in each head offer easily reached nectar and plenty of pollen; honey bees visit them heavily on warm days.
Flowering
It flowers from June to September, and a single plant keeps producing new heads for weeks; this provides continuity in midsummer, when the meadow plants have dried up.
Honey and pollen
It is not produced as a monofloral honey; it contributes to mixed summer and highland honeys.
Note for the beekeeper
Because livestock do not eat it, it multiplies on overgrazed land. In North and South America it is considered an invasive weed; within its natural range, however, it is a valuable source during the summer dearth. Its seeds are also important for goldfinches.