Florida thistle

Carduus vittatus Small, Bull. New York Bot. Gard. 3: 439. 1905; C. smallii (Britton) H. E. Ahles; Cirsium smallii Britton; C. vittatum (Small) Small

Plants 30–90 cm. Stems glabrous to sparsely tomentose. Leaves: blades linear to oblong, 10–30 cm, spinose-dentate to shallowly pinnatifid, main spines mostly 5–10 mm, abaxial faces glabrous or nearly so. Heads 1–10. Involucres 3–4 × 3–6 cm, glabrous. Phyllaries: outer and middle bodies densely scabridulous, marginal spinules 0.1–0.5 mm. Corollas purple. 2n = 32, 33, 34, 35.

Flowering winter–summer (Feb–Aug). Meadows, pastures, old fields, pinelands, usually in damp soil; 0–100 m; Ala., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., N.C., S.C.

Variety vittatum grows on the coastal plain.