This naturalized biennial is a native of Eurasia. The first year a rosette of spiny leaves is produced. The second year, a very spiny thistle grows in dense colonies with stout stems often more than 6 feet tall and with many deep purple flower heads.  Flower heads are up to 2 inches across, each composed of many tiny disk florets (A,B). At the base of each flower head are many narrow, green, curved bracts with sharp pointed tips (B). The leaves are thin with deep lobes and many yellow-tipped spines (A,D). They extend along the stems as spiny “wings” (C). Feathery white plumes are attached to its small seeds enabling their dispersal by the wind.