#thistle  any of numerous plants of the family Compositae and especially of the genera Carduus and Cirsium and Onopordum having prickly-edged leaves
  supertype:  weed  any plant that crowds out cultivated plants
  member of:  family_Compositae
  subtype:  welted_thistle__Carduus_crispus  European biennial introduced in North America having flower heads in crowded clusters at ends of spiny-winged branches
  subtype:  musk_thistle__nodding_thistle__noddingthistle__Carduus_nutans  Eurasian perennial naturalized in eastern North America having very spiny white cottony foliage and nodding musky crimson flower heads; valuable source of nectar
  subtype:  carline_thistle__carlinethistle  a thistle of the genus Carlina
     subtype:  stemless_carline_thistle__Carlina_acaulis  stemless perennial having large flowers with white or purple-brown florets nestled in a rosette of long spiny leaves hairy beneath; of alpine regions of southern and eastern Europe
     subtype:  common_carline_thistle__Carlina_vulgaris  Eurasian thistle growing in sand dunes and dry chalky soils
  subtype:  plume_thistle__plumethistle__plumed_thistle  any of numerous biennial to perennial herbs with handsome purple or yellow or occasionally white flower heads
     subtype:  Canada_thistle__creeping_thistle__Cirsium_arvense  European thistle naturalized in United States and Canada where it is a pernicious weed
     subtype:  woolly_thistle__Cirsium_flodmanii  thistle of western North America having white woolly leaves
        subtype:  European_woolly_thistle__Cirsium_eriophorum  woolly thistle of western and central Europe and Balkan Peninsula
     subtype:  brook_thistle__brookthistle__Cirsium_rivulare  of central and southwestern Europe
     subtype:  bull_thistle__boar_thistle__spear_thistle__spearthistle__Cirsium_vulgare__Cirsium_lanceolatum  European thistle with rather large heads and prickly leaves; extensively naturalized as a weed in the United States
  subtype:  field_thistle__fieldthistle__Cirsium_discolor  stout North American thistle with purplish-pink flower heads
  subtype:  melancholy_thistle__Cirsium_heterophylum__Cirsium_helenioides  perennial stoloniferous thistle of northern Europe with lanceolate basal leaves and usually solitary heads of reddish-purple flowers
  subtype:  blessed_thistle__sweet_sultan__sweetsultan__Cnicus_benedictus  annual of Mediterranean to Portugal having hairy stems and minutely spiny-toothed leaves and large heads of yellow flowers
  subtype:  cotton_thistle__woolly_thistle__Scotch_thistle__Onopordum_acanthium__Onopordon_acanthium  biennial Eurasian white hairy thistle having pale purple flowers; naturalized in North America
  subtype:  golden_thistle  any of several spiny Mediterranean herbs of the genus Scolymus having yellow flower heads
     subtype:  Spanish_oyster_plant__Scolymus_hispanicus  a golden thistle of southwestern Europe cultivated for its edible sweet roots and edible leaves and stalks; its yellow flowers are used as a substitute for saffron

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