Flora of North America species comparison

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Cirsium andrewsii

Franciscan thistle
Habit Biennials (or short–lived monocarpic perennials), 60–200 cm; taprooted.
Stems

several, erect to spreading, thinly arachnoid, soon glabrous;

branches ± fleshy, usually much branched proximally, spreading to ascending.
Leaves

blades ± elliptic, 30–75 × 10–20 cm, shallowly to deeply pinnatifid, lobes oblong to ovate, unlobed or with several prominent secondary lobes or large teeth, obtuse to acute, main spines 2–7 mm, abaxial gray arachnoid-tomentose, adaxial faces thinly arachnoid, glabrate;

basal often present at flowering, spiny winged-petiolate;

principal cauline sessile, bases clasping with broad, spiny-margined auricles, reduced distally, spinier than proximal;

distal much reduced, spines 7–20 mm.
Peduncles

0–7 cm.
Involucres

ovoid to hemispheric or campanulate, 1.5–3 × 1.5–5 cm, sparsely to densely arachnoid, finely short-ciliate.
Corollas

dark reddish purple, 17–24 mm, tubes 8–11 mm, throats 3.5–6 mm, lobes 5–7 mm;

style tips 3–4 mm.
Phyllaries

in ca. 6 series, dark green or brown or with stramineous margins and a darker central zone, imbricate, linear-lanceolate (outer) to linear (inner), abaxial faces without glutinous ridge;

outer and mid bodies appressed, spiny-ciliate, apices long-spreading to ascending long-acuminate, spines straight, stout, 5–15 mm;

apices of inner straight or twisted, long, entire, flat or spine-tipped.
Heads

several–many, in congested corymbiform arrays.
Cypselae

dark brown, 4–5 mm, apical collars narrow;

pappi 15 mm.
2n

= 32.

Cirsium andrewsii
Phenology Flowering spring–summer (May–Sep).
Habitat Headlands, ravines, seeps near coast, sometimes on serpentine
Elevation 0–100 m (0–300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Of conservation concern.

Cirsium andrewsii occurs along the coast of north-central California from San Mateo to Marin counties. It reportedly hybridizes with C. quercetorum (F. Petrak 1917; J. T. Howell 1960b).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 141.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Cardueae > Cirsium
Sibling taxa
C. altissimum, C. andersonii, C. arizonicum, C. arvense, C. barnebyi, C. brevifolium, C. brevistylum, C. canescens, C. carolinianum, C. ciliolatum, C. clavatum, C. crassicaule, C. cymosum, C. discolor, C. douglasii, C. drummondii, C. eatonii, C. edule, C. engelmannii, C. flodmanii, C. foliosum, C. fontinale, C. grahamii, C. helenioides, C. hookerianum, C. horridulum, C. hydrophilum, C. inamoenum, C. joannae, C. kamtschaticum, C. lecontei, C. longistylum, C. mohavense, C. muticum, C. neomexicanum, C. nuttallii, C. occidentale, C. ochrocentrum, C. ownbeyi, C. palustre, C. parryi, C. perplexans, C. pitcheri, C. praeteriens, C. pulcherrimum, C. pumilum, C. quercetorum, C. remotifolium, C. repandum, C. rhothophilum, C. rydbergii, C. scariosum, C. texanum, C. tracyi, C. turneri, C. undulatum, C. vinaceum, C. virginianum, C. vulgare, C. wheeleri, C. wrightii
Synonyms Cnicus andrewsii
Name authority (A. Gray) Jepson: Fl. W. Calif., 506. (1901)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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