Swamp Thistle
Cirsium muticum
Found in swamps, wet thickets, woodlands, seepage slopes, wet prairies, meadows. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
87
Keystone
Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 100%
- Height
- 4 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Biennial
- Bloom
- August to November
JFMAMJJASOND
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 7 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
1 of 6
Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.
Open, grassy or flowery ground that is not wet, such as mountain meadows; wet meadows are separate.
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
30CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Cirsium
- Achyra rantalisGarden Webworm Moth
- Anagrapha falciferaCelery 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
- Euxoa auxiliarisArmy Cut-Worm, Army Cutworm
- Homoeosoma electellaSunflower Moth
- Lipocosmodes fuliginosalisSooty Lipocosmodes
Show all 30
- Megalographa bilobaBilobed Looper Moth
- Orthodes cynicaCynical Quaker, Cynical Groundcat
- Papaipema cataphractaBurdock Border, Potato-Stalk Borer
- Papilio glaucusEastern Tiger Swallowtail
- Paralobesia viteanaAmerican Vine Moth, Grape Berry Moth
- Phyciodes tharosPearl Crescent, Crescentspot
- Phycitodes reliquellaWhite-Edged Phycitodes
- Platyptilia carduidactylusArtichoke Plume Moth
- Pyrausta subsequalisMottled Pyrausta
- Synchlora frondariaSouthern Emerald
- Syntomeida ipomoeaeYellow-Banded Wasp Moth
- Udea rubigalisCelery Leaftier
- Vanessa carduiPainted Lady, Cosmopolite
- Vanessa virginiensisAmerican Lady, American Painted Lady
- Walshia miscecolorellaSweetclover Root Borer Moth
- Xestia dolosaGreater Black-Letter Dart, Greater Spotted Cutworm
- Hedya cyanana
- Homoeosoma pedionnastes
- Omiodes simialis
- Pseudotelphusa carduiella
60BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Cirsium
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
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
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 2a–9b
- Soil pH
- Acidic to alkaline
- Flower color
- Pink or purple
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “August to November” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Pink or purple” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Hardiness · “Zones 2a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “4 feet” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Minnesota Wildflowers, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Life cycle · “Biennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Soil pH · “Acidic to alkaline” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Carduus muticus; plumeless thistle; plumeless-thistle
Conservation status
| Florida rank | S1 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| FL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
In your garden
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Choose a county to begin.
Sources
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: South Central (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: Florida (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: Northern Tier (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- 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