Oklahoma Thistles - their identification, regulation, and management 

I’m a native Oklahoman and I have never learned more about thistles. I left work today and picked my daughter what I now know to be a musk thistle… because she’s five and it was taller than me and purple is her favorite color. So I picked the prettiest flower on the plant and brought it home, curious about what species it is. Good to know that this is not a thistle we want in the yard, and that I need to chop down that giant weed growing by the dumpster at work. It may be invasive but it’s awfully pretty still :) We’re still going to add this one to her flower book where we flatten and label all the pretty flowers and leaves (and sometimes bird feathers) that we find. I’ll be sure to not let this thing get any seeds into the yard though 😂 Thanks for the info.

Very informative video . I have tall thistle in my yard and I try to share seeds but folks are scared if it. My thistle blooms in the fall and feeds many many critters