RANCHING
What Plant Is Important in January? Thistles Complex (Cirsium spp., Silybum spp., Onopordum spp. and Carduus spp.)
Musk Thistle T
HISTLES ARE A VERY AGGRESSIVE, BIENNIAL, INTRODUCED FORB that can be traced back to Europe and Asia. Thistles form dense stands of spiny, well-branched
plants with prickly leaves. Once mature, a plant can easily reach 5 to 7 feet in height. • Easily recognizable, thistles form a large rosette the fi rst year of growth that is usually at least 1 foot tall, 2 feet across and rarely makes a fl ower and seed. They will wait until their second year to produce purple or yellow fl owers, along with thousands of seeds per plant.
• Most common types in roadsides and pastures are the bull thistle, musk thistle, blessed milk thistle, plumeless thistle and Scotch thistle. However, there
Musk Thistle Bloom
are many more species that cause problems in landscapes.
• Most common following a wet winter and can be easily noticed in the spring in pastures because they are a gray plant with white hairs that stand out from other plants. Thistles have very little use by domestic livestock, if
any, and can dominate landscapes quickly if not man- aged in time. Certain types of fi nches use thistle seeds for food, but because of the aggressive nature of these plants, it is not recommended that they be allowed to mature enough to produce seed. Thistles need to be controlled early in the spring with the proper herbicide to get good control.
Editor’s note: Kent Ferguson, retired rangeland management specialist from USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), is providing us with plant identifi cation photo stories to help ranchers identify those forbs, forages and species growing in the pastures. Additional photos provided by USDA NRCS, and USDA.
40 The Cattleman January 2016
thecattlemanmagazine.com
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