Sorting through confusion to identify the funky thistle, a new species of plant in Colorado

March 8, 2022
Funky Thistle new plant speciesFunky Thistle new plant speciesCourtesy: Denver Botanic Gardens
The funky thistle is a new species of plant identified in Colorado.

You'd think in this era of modern science, there'd be nothing new under the sun. Well, get ready for a newly discovered species of plant. And it's called the funky thistle. It lives in some of the alpine meadows here in Colorado. Jennifer Ackerfield is head curator of natural history collections and associate director of biodiversity research at the Denver Botanic Gardens.