Cirsium arvense

A weed that happily grows and spreads on wasteland, meadows and cultivated land. It is a rather spare-looking, very spiny plant with rich green jagged lobed leaves, often twisted along their length with spines jutting from each lobe. It is attractive in flower with branching red brown stems that hold clusters of shaggy pink-purple rounded flowers. It flowers all summer and spreads widely and swiftly. Male and female flowers are usually on different plants. Loved by insects and little else.