Flora of North America species comparison

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Cirsium helenioides

melancholy thistle
Habit Perennials, 40–120 cm; runner roots.
Stems

single, erect, ± arachnoid-tomentose;

branches 0 or few, ascending.
Leaves

oblong to broadly lanceolate, 20–40 × 4–8 cm, finely spinulose-dentate or proximal cauline pinnatifid, lobes undivided, finely spinulose-dentate, main spines 1–2 mm, abaxial faces white-tomentose (with non-septate trichomes), adaxial glabrous;

basal present at flowering, petiolate, bases tapered;

cauline sessile, reduced distally, bases clasping, not decurrent;

distal (few, well separated), oblong or linear, the uppermost reduced to linear bracts.
Peduncles

2–10(–30) cm (elevated above distal leaves).
Involucres

broadly ovoid, 2–3 × 2–3.5 cm, glabrous or loosely arachnoid.
Corollas

red-purple, 25–30 mm, tubes 10–23 mm, throats 8–14 mm (noticeably wider than tubes), lobes 7–10 mm;

style tips 4–5 mm.
Phyllaries

in 8–10 series, imbricate, green, ovate or lanceolate (outer) to linear-lanceolate (inner), abaxial faces with a prominent elongate glutinous ridge, outer and middle tightly appressed, margins entire, apices with ascending, weak spines 0–1 mm;

apices of inner phyllaries attenuate, flat.
Heads

borne singly or less commonly 2–5 in terminal clusters.
Cypselae

light brown, 3–5 mm, bodies and apical collars concolorous;

pappi 20–30 mm.
2n

= 34.

Cirsium helenioides
Phenology Flowering summer (Jul–Aug).
Habitat Fjordlands
Elevation 0–50 m (0–200 ft)
Distribution
from USDA
Greenland; Iceland; Europe; Asia
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Cirsium helenioides is one of only two species of the genus that have native populations in the Old World and the flora area. Neither reaches the North American mainland.

The conservation status of Cirsium helenioides is not known; it is known in the flora area only from a single fjord and possibly should be considered of conservation concern.

of conservation concern

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 110.
Parent taxa 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. flodmanii, C. foliosum, C. fontinale, C. grahamii, 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 helenioides, C. heterophyllum
Name authority (Linnaeus) Hill: Hort. Kew., 64. (1768)
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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