Thistle

Wednesday July 27, 2011 • Litchfield Wetland Management District

The Litchfield Wetland Management District staff got a complaint about having too many thistles from a nearby farmer. In response, the staff sprayed them. The thistles began to die, and then all that was left was green stems. The farmer said that they weren't dead; probably because he hadn’t looked closely, and he said they were fluffing out. They were.

One of the staff members brought in a thistle to examine for viable seed and he put several heads in front of me to examine, and we pulled the seeds out. We poked and prodded them, and the dark seed parts were flat. They were not viable. We found it very interesting that although the thistle had been sprayed, and had produced seed, that none of them would grow.

Staff at Litchfield say that thistles are, in reality, not much of a problem, contrary to popular belief, because it goes away quickly in a healthy prairie environment. It usually only grows in disturbed areas.

Guest Blogger, Ian Drobney is traveling across the Midwest Region. Stay tuned for more observations.