The purple flower heads may look pretty, but don't let that fool you. Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) can be a pain if it's growing in your yard. It's non-native and can be an invasive plant ...

but not as strongly as in variegated thistle (Silybum marianum). Each flower head is up to 2 cm long and about 1.5 cm wide, and there are usually clusters of these heads at the ends of each stem, with ...

It is called a thistle cup because its shape is designed to look like the head of a thistle flower. The base is rounded and the rim turns outwards at the edge, which copies the shape of the flower.

As livestock don’t like eating thistles, it flowers freely in pastures ... The root will not regrow if these buds are removed. Seed heads of Scotch thistle often appear distorted late in the season ...