Burke: Cirsium remotifolium vs. Cirsium hookerianum

	Cirsium remotifolium	Cirsium hookerianum
	few-leaf thistle, Pacific fringed thistle, remote-leaved thistle, weak thistle	Hooker's thistle, white thistle
Habit		Taprooted, short-lived perennial, the stem densely but loosely covered with long, soft hairs, 4-15 dm. tall, tapering above.
Leaves		Leaves with some loose, soft hairs above, thinly white-woolly below, narrowly lanceolate, toothed and moderately spiny.
Flowers		Heads clustered toward the top of the simple stem in a compact or elongated inflorescence; involucre 2-3 cm. high, strongly spider-webby, not much imbricate, the bracts all narrow and tapering, the middle and outer with a short, straight spine, the inner often twisted; flowers all tubular, creamy-white; receptacle densely bristly.

	Cirsium remotifolium	Cirsium hookerianum
Flowering time	June-September	July-August
Habitat	Meadows, stream banks, open for, brushy slopes, from low to middle elevations in the mountains.	Moist lowlands, open slopes and fields.
Distribution	Occurring west of the Cascades crest and east in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; Washington to California. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to Washington, east to Alberta, Montana, and Wyoming. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Sensitive in Washington (WANHP)	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	C. arvense, C. brevifolium, C. brevistylum, C. edule, C. flodmanii, C. hookerianum, C. inamoenum, C. scariosum, C. undulatum, C. vulgare	C. arvense, C. brevifolium, C. brevistylum, C. edule, C. flodmanii, C. inamoenum, C. remotifolium, C. scariosum, C. undulatum, C. vulgare
Web links	Local floras: CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Cirsium remotifolium

Cirsium hookerianum

few-leaf thistle, Pacific fringed thistle, remote-leaved thistle, weak thistle

Hooker's thistle, white thistle

Habit

Taprooted, short-lived perennial, the stem densely but loosely covered with long, soft hairs, 4-15 dm. tall, tapering above.

Leaves

Leaves with some loose, soft hairs above, thinly white-woolly below, narrowly lanceolate, toothed and moderately spiny.

Flowers

Heads clustered toward the top of the simple stem in a compact or elongated inflorescence;

involucre 2-3 cm. high, strongly spider-webby, not much imbricate, the bracts all narrow and tapering, the middle and outer with a short, straight spine, the inner often twisted;

flowers all tubular, creamy-white;

receptacle densely bristly.