Onopordum acanthium (cotton thistle, Scotch (or Scottish) thistle, not to be confused with Cirsium vulgare - spear thistle, which is also known as Scotch or Scottish thistle and is the national flower of Scotland. Spear thistle is native to Britain and is common and widespread - Cotton thistle is non-native) is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to Europe and Western Asia from the Iberian Peninsula east to Kazakhstan, and north to central Scandinavia, and widely naturalised elsewhere, with especially large populations present in the United States and Australia. It is a vigorous biennial plant with coarse, spiny leaves and conspicuous spiny-winged stems.