Yellow Thistle (Horrible Thistle)

Scientific Name - Cirsium horridulum Michx.
[Carduus spinosissimus Walt.]
Family - Compositae

Erect, stout, spiny winter annual. Leaves with shallow, spiny lobes. Flowers purple, occasionally, yellow, in large terminal, spiny head. Seeds with tuft of soft, white hairs at the tip. Reproduces by seed. Found in open, sandy areas. Occurs from Maine and Pennsylvania, south into Florida and west to Texas. Also found in the West Indies, Mexico and Central America.