From The Sacramento Bee:

As with any mega-star in a state that cultivates celebrity, yellow star thistle flirts with overexposure. It's the Jennifer Aniston of invasive noxious weeds, its impact somewhat diluted by its very ubiquity.

We see it everywhere – on freeway offramps, in vacant city lots, spreading like some hideous gray-green rash across vast swaths of ranchland. We feel its barbed presence – on park trails, in camping and wilderness areas, even one's own garden. We gripe about its omnipresence, its insidious invasion of our lives and sock linings, even as we shrug and say, "No way to stop it."

Indeed, Star's long list of credits bespeaks its clout: 15 million acres covered in 57 of California's 58 counties. The Bee recently caught up with Star as it was making an extended personal appearance at one of its favorite local haunts, the Rattlesnake Bar trailhead of Folsom Lake State Recreation Area.

For more, see: Invasive yellow star thistle aims to take over the world