Scotch Thistle

Native to Europe and Western Asia from the Iberian Peninsula east to Kazakhstan, and north to central Scandinavia, and widely naturalised elsewhere with especially large populations present in the United States and Australia. It is a vigorous biennial plant with coarse, spiny leaves and conspicuous spiny-winged stems. The flowers are globe shaped, from dark pink to lavender, and are produced in the summer. Scotch thistle is a branched plant that can grow up to 8 feet or more in height and 6 feet in width.