Oki Thistle

This perennial plant (an herbaceous plant that survives two or more years) grows in fields, along forest roads, and in bright grasslands on both Dōgo and the Dōzen Islands. It is a variant of the Japanese thistle (Cirsium japonicum). It has six rows of bracts (the part that holds the flower together), and unlike the Japanese thistle, its bracts do not stick when touched. The Oki thistle grows to a height of 50–200 cm, and its purple flowers color the grasslands and forest roads in early summer. Because the entire body of the plant is covered in thorns, cattle and horses do not eat it, making it one of the more eye-catching plants in grassy fields.