Musk thistle

Mr U&L and I went for a lovely trip to Malling Down near Lewes today to see if we could see the Silver-spotted skippers that fly there.
Unfortunately, it was really warm and what skippers there were were very fast and flighty, and as usual had the ability to simply 'dissolve' into the background! 
I quite like thistles, and this is one of the best, the very beautiful Musk or Nodding thistle Carduus nutans, a biennial  member of the sunflower family.
It is common around these parts, but classified as local and  tends to favor neutral or alkaline soils.
I have included a shot of the naughty little skipper in my extras, just to prove I did finally manage it!