UW Burke Herbarium species comparison

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Cirsium altissimum

Cirsium brevifolium

Palouse thistle
Habit Stout, short-lived perennial spreading from creeping roots, branched above or sometimes below the surface, 3-12 dm. tall.
Leaves

Leaves up to 3 dm. long, coarsely toothed to pinnatifid, the lobes ovate or deltoid, usually over 7mm. wide, the margins spiny; the leaves green above, but somewhat white-woolly beneath.
Flowers

Heads several, at the ends of the branches;

involucre 2-3.5 mm. high, its bracts well imbricate, with glandular-glutinous dorsal ridges, the inner bracts pointed at the tip, the others with spines 3-5 mm. long;

flowers all tubular, white to cream;

receptacle densely bristly.
Fruits

Achenes 3-5 mm. long, light brown.

Cirsium altissimum

Cirsium brevifolium
Flowering time June-October
Habitat Palouse grassland remnants, dry rocky slopes, and roadsides.
Distribution
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Occurring east of the Cascades crest in eastern and southeastern Washington; eastern Washington to northeast Oregon and adjacent Idaho.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Origin Native
Conservation status Not of concern
Sibling taxa
C. arvense, C. brevifolium, C. brevistylum, C. edule, C. flodmanii, C. hookerianum, C. inamoenum, C. remotifolium, C. scariosum, C. undulatum, C. vulgare
C. arvense, C. brevistylum, C. edule, C. flodmanii, C. hookerianum, C. inamoenum, C. remotifolium, C. scariosum, C. undulatum, C. vulgare
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the University of Washington's Burke Herbarium.



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