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Carolina Thistle

Cirsium carolinianum

Found in prairies and open woodlands, primarily over mafic, ultramafic, or calcareous rocks. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

89
Keystone

Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 82%

Height
Up to about 6 feet
Light
Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture
Dry to moist
Will it fit your yard?

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 or perennial

Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves · Bloom

Bloom: NC species account not read yet.

Spread and leaves: no source found yet.

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 4 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 2

Prairies and grasslands

Barrens native plants returning after prescribed fire, September 2020
Barrens grassland after a prescribed fire. Shown: Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, a neighboring state.Barrens native plants returning after prescribed fire, September 2020, NPS Photo / Rick Olson, September 2020. Public domain. Source record.

Forests and woodlands

Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 61 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

34CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · 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 34
  • Megalographa bilobaBilobed Looper Moth
  • Orthodes cynicaCynical Quaker, Cynical Groundcat
  • Papaipema arctivorensNorthern Burdock Borer Moth
  • Papaipema cataphractaBurdock Border, Potato-Stalk Borer
  • Papaipema cerussataIronweed Borer Moth
  • Papaipema insulidensRagwort Stem Borer
  • 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
  • Walshia miscecolorellaSweetclover Root Borer Moth
  • Xestia c-nigrumSpotted Cut-Worm, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Lesser Black-letter Dart
  • Xestia dolosaGreater Black-Letter Dart, Greater Spotted Cutworm
  • Hedya cyanana
  • Homoeosoma pedionnastes
  • Pseudotelphusa carduiella
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
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
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
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
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

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
Flower color
White, pink or purple
Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Carduus carolinianus; Soft Thistle; Spring Thistle; plumeless thistle; plumeless-thistle

Conservation status

Virginia rankS1
Global rankG5
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources