A friend sent me this picture asking if I could identify this plant. I believe it is a type of thistle (but look of the leaves)but possibly an aster (by the look of the center/petals) Any ideas to narrow my search?
Since Thistle and Aster are in the same Family - Asteraceae there will be similarities in the leaves and stems but yours looks more like it belongs in the Genus -Aster . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thistle Can we see a photo of the bloom from the side?
Okay, boy was I mistaken. It appears to be a Thistle afterall....a Carlina vulgaris http://blog.metmuseum.org/cloistersgard ... p10141971/ And appears to be present only in New York/New Jersey area, which would explain why a Texan thought it was more Aster than Thistle. http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CAVU3
Thanks and good job. My uncle helped point me in the right (thistle)direction and looking regionally specific I had just come to this conclusion before I checked this.
