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What is this plant?

20 years ago

Can anyone identify this plant?

Some descriptions are provided on the page:

http://cbd.netfirms.com/misc/plant.html

My friend took some hillside dirt to fill in her yard last spring. And this thing grew in its place. It looks like a monstrous weed, but it's 5 feet across, but only about 4-5 inchnes tall. There are no flowers, and I told her to leave it until it starts blooming so we can see what it turns into. But she's just hoping it's not poisonous.

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Comments (4)

nonmember_gw
20 years ago
Silybum marianum. A monstrous weed but not poisonous.
chilln
20 years ago
For a "weed" it sure is beautiful. Wouldn't mind having one myself.

Here is a link that might be useful: Louisiana Wildflower Enthusiasts
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rfox0123
Original Author
20 years ago
Thanks for the quick responses!
I looked up the plant name for more info and found this page.

The flower is interesting, but it's going to grow 2-6 feet tall along with growing outward?!

Excuse me, but I'm not a gardener and I don't understand everything it says, so I hope experts here can explain.
The above page also says: "Milk thistle overwinters as a rosette, sometimes reaching three feet in diameter."

First, if 3ft is considered the larger example, my friend's plant is already 5ft across! Does that mean when it grows its vertical stalk, it will be even taller?! That will really freak her out since the plant already scares her.

Second, what does it mean that it "overwinters" as a rosette, as that's apparently what's it's grown into? Does that mean it won't grow a stalk, which means, no flowers?

And perhaps more alarming, other web sites list this plant as a "noxious weed". What does that mean? They also recommend eradication. Does that mean it's dangerous?

Thanks for all your help.
lucky_p
20 years ago
rfox,
Most of the thistles are biennials - they germinate and grow as that low-to-the-ground rosette the first year, then during the second year, they put up a vertical shoot, flower, and produce seed.
By noxious weed, they mean it puts out so many seeds that it can rapidly spread and colonize in surrounding areas, particularly if there is disturbed or bare ground for the seeds to settle upon - and as you can see, by your friend's single plant spreading out 3-5 ft, large numbers of them could pose a significant problem in pasture or crop field situations. If your friend wants to let it grow, she should at least be diligent in removing the flowers before they mature and release their airborne seeds to spread over the countryside.
Thistles(esp. Canadian thistle) were typically the driving force behind various states passing and instituting 'noxious weed laws'.

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