Cirsium eatonii var. peckii
Cirsium eatonii var. murdockii
Peck's thistle, Steens Mountain or ghost thistle, Steens Mountain thistle
northern mountain thistle
erect or ascending, stout, 10–150 cm.
erect or ascending, stout, 10–75 cm.
faces glabrous or nearly so or abaxial ± villous with septate trichomes.
faces glabrous or nearly so or abaxial ± villous and/or tomentose with septate or non-septate trichomes.
2–4 cm, loosely to densely villous with septate trichomes and thinly arachnoid with non-septate trichomes.
2–3 cm, thinly to densely tomentose with septate or non-septate trichomes (phyllaries sometimes obscured by tomentum).
pink to purple, 21–25 mm, tubes 6.5–8 mm, throats 8–11.5 mm, lobes 5.5–7 mm.
white to pink or lavender, 17–23 mm, tubes 6–10 mm, throats 5–8 mm, lobes 3–6 mm.
green;
outer with few or no lateral spines;
apical spines stout.
green or purplish-tinged;
outer with few lateral spines;
apical spines slender.
several–many, usually subsessile or short-pedunculate, crowded in erect, spiciform or racemiform arrays, less commonly openly branched.
sessile or short-pedunculate in erect, few-headed, subcapitate or spiciform arrays.
17–22 mm.
11–18 mm.
= 34 (as C. peckii).
= 34 (as C. tweedyi).
Cirsium eatonii var. peckii
Cirsium eatonii var. murdockii
Variety peckii occurs from Steens Mountain and the Pueblo Mountains of Harney County, Oregon, south to the Black Rock Range and Jackson Mountains of Humboldt County, Nevada. On the lower portion of its distribution along Steens Mountain Loop Road at an elevation of about 1900 m, var. peckii and Cirsium inamoenum grow together and freely hybridize, forming a complex hybrid swarm. Intermediates variably combine the features of the parent taxa, with the habit more openly branched than typical for C. eatonii var. peckii, variably arachnoid tomentose leaves, ± glandular phyllaries, and lavender to pale pink flowers. Variety peckii may range as far south as the West Humboldt Mountains. The type of Cirsium humboldtense Rydberg (Carduus nevadensis Greene) closely resembles some of the hybrids between C. inamoenum and C. eatonii var. peckii.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Of conservation concern.
Variety murdockii grows in the central Rocky Mountains from central Idaho and southern Montana to western Wyoming and northern Colorado. It also grows in the Ruby Mountains of northern Nevada and the Uintah Mountains of northeastern Utah. Considerable variation occurs in quantity and quality of pubescence of the involucres of var. murdockii. In some individuals the pubescence is so dense that it obscures the phyllary bodies whereas in others the individual phyllaries are clearly visible. Most commonly the pubescence consists primarily of septate trichomes, but sometimes finer non-septate trichomes predominate. Both types of trichomes may be present.
Variety murdockii is known to hybridize with Cirsium pulcherrimum var. pulcherrimum and C. scariosum var. scariosum in Wyoming.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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