Bull Thistle
Cirsium vulgare
Found in meadows, pastures, and disturbed areas. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- 1 to 6.6 feet tall
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Biennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- June to November
Not yet recorded · Spread
Recorded in 21 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open, grassy or flowery ground that is not wet, such as mountain meadows; wet meadows are separate.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
28CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Cirsium
- Achyra rantalisGarden Webworm Moth
- Anagrapha falciferaCelery Looper Moth
- Autographa precationisCommon Looper Moth
- Calephelis virginiensisNorthern Metalmark
- Cenopis reticulatanaReticulated Fruitworm Moth
- Choristoneura rosaceanaOblique-Banded Leafroller Moth, Rosaceous Leaf Roller
- Dicymolomia julianalisJulia's Dicymolomia
- Epiblema scudderianaScudder's Epiblema, Goldenrod Gall Moth
- Homoeosoma electellaSunflower Moth
- Lipocosmodes fuliginosalisSooty Lipocosmodes
Show all 28
- Megalographa bilobaBilobed Looper Moth
- Orthodes cynicaCynical Quaker, Cynical Groundcat
- Papaipema cataphractaBurdock Border, Potato-Stalk Borer
- Papaipema cerussataIronweed Borer Moth
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Papilio glaucusEastern Tiger Swallowtail
- Paralobesia viteanaAmerican Vine Moth, Grape Berry Moth
- Phlogophora irisOlive Angle Shades
- Phyciodes tharosPearl Crescent, Crescentspot
- Phycitodes reliquellaWhite-Edged Phycitodes
- Platyptilia carduidactylusArtichoke Plume Moth
- Pyrausta subsequalisMottled Pyrausta
- Synchlora frondariaSouthern Emerald
- Udea rubigalisCelery Leaftier
- Vanessa carduiPainted Lady, Cosmopolite
- Vanessa virginiensisAmerican Lady, American Painted Lady
- Xestia dolosaGreater Black-Letter Dart, Greater Spotted Cutworm
- Pseudotelphusa carduiella
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
12Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Cirsium
- Andrena nubecula
- Andrena placata
- Andrena runcinatae
- Andrena simplex
- Diadasia enavata
- Megachile pugnata
- Melissodes confusus
- Melissodes desponsus
- Melissodes illatus
- Melissodes rivalis
Show all 12
- Osmia chalybea
- Osmia texana
6BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Cirsium
- Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
- Columbina passerinaCommon Ground Dove
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
- Perdix perdixGray Partridge
- Spizella pusillaField Sparrow
- Zenaida macrouraMourning Dove
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Plant details
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–8b
- Soil pH
- Acidic to alkaline
- Flower color
- Pink or purple
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Late June to November” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Pink or purple” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Hardiness · “Zones 3a–8b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “1 to 6.6 feet (0.3 to 2 m) tall” · Fire Effects Information System: Cirsium vulgare (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs) · Source botanical description; original units and scope retained
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Biennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Acidic to alkaline” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Carduus lanceolatus; plumeless thistle; plumeless-thistle
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications