Habitats:
Beaches, grassland, roadsides, seaside, walls, wasteland.
Small, unstalked, pale pink-purple flowers, up to 1cm across. The flowers are in clusters of 3 to 10 and are frequently shorter than spiny bracts.
Leaves:
Spiny, dull olive green, pinnately lobed leaves. The leaves are whitish-grey downy on their undersides. The stems are very spiny. Annual or biennial.
Other Names:
Italian Thistle, Multiheaded Thistle, Sheep Thistle, Shore Thistle, Slender-flower Thistle, Winged Plumeless Thistle, Winged Slender Thistle, Winged Thistle.