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National Invasive Species Information Center
U.S. Department of Agriculture
  1. Home
  2. Terrestrial Invasives
  3. Terrestrial Plants
  4. Musk Thistle

Musk Thistle

Scientific Name

Carduus nutans L. (ITIS)

Common Name

Musk thistle, nodding thistle

Native To

Eurasia (Zouhar 2002)

Date of U.S. Introduction

First recorded in 1852 (Zouhar 2002)

Means of Introduction

Accidental, possibly through ballast water (Zouhar 2002)

Impact

Crowds out native species and forage for livestock (Zouhar 2002)

Musk thistle

Musk thistle, flower

Credit

Photo by Mary Ellen (Mel) Harte

Source
Invasive.org.

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Selected Resources

The section below contains highly relevant resources for this species, organized by source.

Council or Task Force
Partnership
Federal Government
International Government
State and Local Government
Academic
Citations

  • Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Carduus nutans. [Accessed Sep 19, 2023].

  • Zouhar, K. 2002. Carduus nutans. In: Fire Effects Information System. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.