Thistles grow in open, disturbed areas all over the Olympic Peninsula. After they bloom in late summer they explode into threadlike floating seeds that drift on the wind like dancers in Disney’s “Fantasia.” As seeds they have moments of poetry. Ironically, most of the plants they germinate are nasty and tenacious — some are prickly enough to draw blood.
This is what the plants look like as they shed the seeds.
And this is what they look like before they go to seed. The spider just came along for a moment of fame.
They look beautiful and ephemeral, but it appears that they are quite hardy and long lasting instead. Too bad that they can be so noxious!