Flora of North America species comparison

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Cirsium flodmanii

Cirsium engelmannii

chardon de Flodman, Flodman's thistle, prairie thistle

blackland thistle, Engelmann's thistle
Habit Perennials 30–140 cm; horizontal runner roots that produce root sprouts. Biennials or monocarpic perennials, 40–200 cm; taproots and clusters of coarse fibrous roots that often have tuberlike thickenings.
Stems

1–several, erect, gray- or white-tomentose;

branches 0–few, ascending.

single, erect, often branched above middle, thinly arachnoid-tomentose, ± glabrate;

branches few, ascending.
Leaves

blades oblong-oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 4–40 × 1–10 cm, bases usually not decurrent, finely spiny-toothed and undivided to coarsely toothed or deeply pinnatifid, lobes broadly triangular to linear-lanceolate, often revolute-margined, main spines 1–7 mm, abaxial faces white-tomentose, adaxial faces green, thinly tomentose, ± glabrate;

basal usually absent or withered at flowering, winged petiolate;

principal cauline proximally winged-petiolate, distally sessile, well distributed, gradually reduced, bases usually not decurrent;

distal cauline well developed.

blades elliptic or ovate, 5–20 × 1–10 cm, usually deeply pinnatifid, lobes narrowly to broadly triangular, sinuses broad, rounded (basal and distal cauline sometimes less divided, lobes linear-lanceolate), margins revolute, spreading, entire or spinulose to remotely few-toothed or sharply lobed, main spines slender, 1–5 mm, abaxial faces white-tomentose, adaxial green, villous with septate trichomes or glabrate;

basal usually absent at flowering, winged-petiolate, bases tapered;

principal cauline well distributed, gradually reduced, bases narrowed, sometimes weakly clasping;

distal reduced, widely separated, distalmost bractlike.
Peduncles

0–5 cm (elevated above distal leaves).

2–20+ cm, essentially naked with much reduced bracts.
Involucres

ovoid to broadly campanulate, 2–3.5 × 2.5–3.5 cm, thinly arachnoid.

ovoid to broadly cylindric or campanulate, 2.5–3.5 × 2–3 cm, thinly arachnoid.
Corollas

purple (white), 23–36 mm, tubes 12–15 mm, throats 6–8.5 mm, lobes 5–9 mm;

style tips 4–7 mm.

pink to purple (white), 32–38 mm, tubes 15–20 mm, throats 6–9 mm, lobes 8–11 mm;

style tips 5–6 mm.
Phyllaries

in 7–12 series, strongly imbricate, greenish with subapical darker central zone, ovate or lanceolate (outer) to linear (inner), abaxial faces with prominent glutinous ridge;

outer and middle entire, bodies appressed, entire, acute, spines abruptly spreading, slender, 2–4 mm;

apices of inner spreading, flexuous, narrow, flattened, finely serrulate, ± scabrous.

in 10–12 series, strongly imbricate, greenish with subapical darker central zone, ovate (outer) to lanceolate (inner), abaxial faces with narrow glutinous ridge;

outer and middle entire, bodies appressed, spines abruptly spreading to deflexed, slender, 2–4 mm;

apices of inner phyllaries narrow, flexuous, flattened, entire or finely erose.
Heads

erect, borne singly and terminal on main stem and branches, or few in corymbiform arrays from distal axils (not subtended by ring of spiny-margined bracts).

1–10+, borne at tips of main stem and branches.
Cypselae

light brown, 3–5 mm, apical collars stramineous, 0.5–1 mm;

pappi (white or tawny) 20–30 mm.

brown, 5–6 mm, apical collars yellow, ca. 1 mm;

pappi 25–30 mm.
2n

= 22, 24.

= 18 (as C. terrae-nigrae), 20 + 1B.

Cirsium flodmanii

Cirsium engelmannii
Phenology Flowering summer (Jun–Sep). Flowering spring–summer (May–Jul).
Habitat Tallgrass, mixedgrass, shortgrass prairies, meadows, pastures, often in damp soil Tallgrass prairies, old fields, roadsides, oak savannas, forest edges, in calcareous clay or rarely sandy soils
Elevation 100–2400 m (300–7900 ft) 50–200 m (200–700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CO; IA; IL; KS; MI; MN; MT; ND; NE; SD; WI; WY; AB; MB; ON; QC; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
LA; OK; TX
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Cirsium flodmanii ranges from Saskatchewan and Alberta south through the northern Great Plains and intermountain valleys of Montana and Wyoming to northeastern Colorado and east through the prairies to Minnesota and Iowa, and in widely scattered locations eastward to northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, southern Ontario, and southern Quebec. It is known to hybridize with C. muticum and C. undulatum. Hybrids between C. flodmanii and C. undulatum are highly sterile with numerous meiotic irregularities (S. Dabydeen 1987).

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

Cirsium engelmannii occurs mostly in the blackland prairies of eastern Texas. It ranges northward into southeastern Oklahoma and eastward to northwestern Arkansas.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 120. FNA vol. 19, p. 117.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Cardueae > Cirsium Asteraceae > tribe Cardueae > Cirsium
Sibling taxa
C. altissimum, C. andersonii, C. andrewsii, 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. 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
C. altissimum, C. andersonii, C. andrewsii, 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. 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 Carduus flodmanii, C. oblanceolatum C. virginianum var. filipendulum, C. terrae-nigrae
Name authority (Rydberg) Arthur: Torreya 12: 34. (1912) Rydberg: Fl. Rocky Mts., 1069. (1917)
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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