Carried by 14 nurseries
View Availability at NurseryData provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria
View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora
Cobweb Thistle (Cirsium occidentale) is a beautiful non-weedy thistle that forms a rosette of gray woolly and spiny leaves the first year and flowers in summer of the second year with tall spikes of showy flowers. These may be white to blood red to shades of purple. The unopened flower heads are laced, often quite heavily, in fibers resembling cobwebs.
This fast-growing perennial may remain short, at 2 feet,or tower to 9 feet. t likes sunny areas with good drainage and little irrigation. It is deer resistant and attracts bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Butterflies such as the painted lady and the Mylitta crescent depend on cobweb thistle as a larval food source.
Perennial herb
2 - 10 ft Tall
Red, Purple, Pink, White
Summer, Spring
Deer resistant
Full Sun, Partial Shade
Very Low, Low
Moderate
Fast, Medium, Slow
Adaptable.
Varied
Coastal Strand
Butterflies and moths supported
0 confirmed and 16 likely
Garden Webworm Moth
Achyra rantalis
Orange Tortrix Moth
Argyrotaenia franciscana
Oblique-Banded Leafroller Moth
Choristoneura rosaceana
Sunflower Moth
Homoeosoma electella