Musk Thistle
Carduus nutans
Found in fields, roadsides, disturbed areas. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to West Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 71%
- Height
- 2 to 6 feet tall
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to wet
Do not plant. Listed invasive in West Virginia.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Biennial
- Bloom
- May to November
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 4 West Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
10CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
Genus host records with ranges including WV · Carduus
- Epiblema scudderianaScudder's Epiblema, Goldenrod Gall Moth
- Homoeosoma electellaSunflower Moth
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Phlogophora irisOlive Angle Shades
- Platyptilia carduidactylusArtichoke Plume Moth
- Pyrausta subsequalisMottled Pyrausta
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Vanessa carduiPainted Lady, Cosmopolite
- Vanessa virginiensisAmerican Lady, American Painted Lady
- Scythris eboracensis
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
2Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Carduus
- Dieunomia heteropoda
- Melissodes desponsus
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimPlant details
- Family
- Asteraceae
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Late May to November” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Height · “2 to 6 feet (0.6-1.8 m) tall” · Fire Effects Information System: Carduus nutans (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs) · Source botanical description; original units and scope retained
- Life cycle · “Biennial” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Nodding Thistle
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| WV status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Native alternatives
Find natives for your gardenSources
- West Virginia DNR invasive plant list
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- NatureServe Explorer
- West Virginia occurrence source
- 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