About ten days ago I found this thistle and others like it, growing on arid, dry and abandoned land. So far I haven't been able to identify the plant. At first I though it to be Cardus acanthoides or Carduus nutans. Browsing through field books, I still havn't been able to come up with another candidate.
Musk thistle (carduus nutans) http://stonethegardener.tumblr.com/post/52141009969/thistle Edit: Sorry, shoulda read your post... In the descriptions for musk thistle, those stem leaves figure predominantly... As mentioned here: http://observeyourpreserve.org/species/musk-thistle
Sure looks similar to Carduus nutans, Musk Thistle, aka Nodding Thistle. Interesting to note that this species is already present in California. http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ONIL&mapType=nativity&photoID=onil_001_ahp.tif
