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Photo is of parent taxon

gray-green thistle

Outer phyllaries

usually much shorter than inner; glutinous ridge prominent, well developed, appearing dark brown on dry specimens.

Larger

heads 15–25 mm diam.

2n

= 34 (as C. canovirens).

Cirsium cymosum var. canovirens

Phenology Flowering spring–summer (Apr–Aug).
Habitat Grasslands, sagebrush steppe, pinyon-juniper woodlands, dry coniferous forests, roadsides
Elevation 600–2600 m (2000–8500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; WY
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Variety canovirens occurs from the dry mountains and valleys of eastern Oregon and the rain shadow slopes of the northern Sierra Nevada eastward across the northern Great Basin to Idaho, southern Montana, and western Wyoming. D. J. Keil and C. E. Turner (1993) recognized a polymorphic Cirsium canovirens that included C. subniveum (here treated as C. inamoenum). My subsequent investigations indicate that the merger of those taxa was erroneous, based in part on mis-identified specimens.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 19, p. 136.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Cardueae > Cirsium > Cirsium cymosum
Sibling taxa
C. cymosum var. cymosum
Synonyms Carduus canovirens, C. canovirens
Name authority (Rydberg) D. J. Keil: Sida 21: 212. (2004)
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