Dictionary

musk thistle en · NOUN

Etymology

First attested in 1633; named for the scent of its immature flower heads.

Meanings

1. A biennial herb of species Carduus nutans, in the sunflower family Asteraceae with a large drooping purple flower head, native to parts of Eurasia and North Africa and a common invasive species elsewhere.
   • Musk thistle is spreading rapidly in areas of eastern Idaho, especially in counties bordering Wyoming and Montana. At the present time there are localized infestations extending from Bear Lake to the Lolo Pass in northern Idaho. 1966 February 14, Robert E. Higgins, Musk thistle and its control, University of Idaho:
   • The Muske-Thistle I haue seene growing about Deptford, and (as far as my memory serues me) it is very like to the third here described: it growes better than a cubit high, with reasonable large leaues, and also heads which are a little soft or downy, large, with purple floures: the heads before the floures open smell strong of muske. 1633, John Gerard, Thomas Johnson, The herball, or, Generall historie of plantes, volume 2, page 1176:

Forms

Synonyms

nodding thistle

Translations (11)

fr chardon penché (Carduus nutans) · tr yaban enginarı (Carduus nutans) · de Nickende Distel (Carduus nutans) · it cardo rosso (Carduus nutans) · pl oset zwisły (Carduus nutans) · gd fòthannan-crom (Carduus nutans) · de Bisamdistel (Carduus nutans) · ga feochadán crom (Carduus nutans) · sv nicktistel (Carduus nutans) · fi nuokkukarhiainen (Carduus nutans) · nl knikkende distel (Carduus nutans)