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black or Le Conte's thistle, Le Conte's thistle

cluster thistle, Indian or cluster or short-style thistle, Indian thistle, short-style thistle

Habit Perennials but sometimes appearing biennial, 35–110 cm; taproots, sometimes with root sprouts. Annuals or biennials, 20–350 cm; taprooted.
Stems

1–few, erect, distal 1/2 nearly naked, loosely arachnoid;

branches 0–5(–10), stiffly ascending.

usually 1, erect, simple or branched in distal 1/2, loosely to densely villous or viscid-pilose with jointed trichomes, often arachnoid below heads;

branches 0–many, ascending.

Leaves

blades linear to oblong or narrowly elliptic, 15–25 × 1–4 cm, coarsely toothed to shallowly pinnatifid, lobes undivided or coarsely few-toothed, main spines 3–6 mm, abaxial faces often ± glabrate, loosely arachnoid when young, adaxial glabrous or sparingly villous with coarse, multicellular trichomes;

basal sometimes absent at flowering, petiolate;

principal cauline sessile, progressively reduced distally, bases clasping or ± decurrent;

distal cauline few, widely separated, bractlike.

blades oblong to elliptic or oblanceolate, 15–35 × 2–10 cm, flat to ± undulate, coarsely dentate to shallowly pinnatifid, lobes broadly triangular, spinulose to spiny-dentate or shallowly lobed, main spines slender, 3–7 mm, abaxial faces thinly gray-tomentose, villous along major veins, sometimes glabrescent, adaxial sparsely villous or viscid-pilose along midveins with jointed trichomes;

basal often absent at flowering, spiny winged-petiolate;

principal cauline well distributed, gradually reduced, proximal winged-petiolate, mid and distal sessile, bases clasping or short-decurrent;

distal moderately to strongly reduced, often spinier than the proximal.

Peduncles

5–30 cm (elevated above cauline leaves, not subtended by ring of involucre-like bracts).

0–1(–30) cm.

Involucres

broadly cylindric to campanulate, 2.5–4 × 1.5–4 cm, loosely arachnoid, ± glabrate.

hemispheric to campanulate, 2.5–3.5 cm, 2.5–4 cm diam., loosely to densely arachnoid, phyllaries connected by long septate or non-septate trichomes.

Corollas

pink-purple, 22–45 mm, tubes 10–23 mm, throats 8–14 mm, lobes 7–10 mm;

style tips 4–5 mm.

white to pink or purple, very slender, 20–25 mm, tubes 10–17 mm, throats 4–5 mm, lobes filiform with knoblike tips, 3–5 mm;

style tips 2–4 mm, included or exserted (only 1–2 mm beyond corolla lobes).

Phyllaries

in 6–10 series, imbricate, ovate or lanceolate (outer) to linear-lanceolate (inner), abaxial faces with prominent glutinous ridge, outer and middle tightly appressed, margins spinulose-serrulate, spines ascending, 0.5–2 mm;

apices of inner flat, linear- acuminate.

radiating in 5–10 series, subequal, green, linear-acicular, outermost margins sometimes spiny-fringed, otherwise all entire or minutely serrulate, abaxial faces without glutinous ridge;

outer and mid bases short-appressed, apices stiffly radiating to ascending, long, very narrow, spines straight, slender, 3–5 m;

apices of inner straight, flat.

Heads

borne singly or less commonly 2–5(–10) in open, corymbiform arrays.

1–many, ± erect, usually crowded in subcapitate to tight corymbiform arrays, closely subtended by clustered ± leafy bracts.

Cypselae

light brown, 5–5.75 mm, apical collars paler than body, ca. 0.75 mm;

pappi 20–40 mm.

brown, 3–4.5 mm, apical collars stramineous, 0.2 mm;

pappi 10–22 mm.

2n

= 28, 32.

= 34.

Cirsium lecontei

Cirsium brevistylum

Phenology Flowering spring–summer (May–Aug). Flowering spring–summer (Apr–Sep).
Habitat Sandy pinelands of coastal plain, often in damp soil Coastal meadows, marshes, swamps, riparian woodlands, moist sites in coastal scrub, chaparral, coastal woodlands, mixed conifer-hardwood forests, or coniferous forests
Elevation 0–150 m (0–500 ft) 0–1000 m (0–3300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; FL; LA; MS; NC; SC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; ID; MT; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Of conservation concern.

Cirsium lecontei occurs on the southern coastal plain. R. J. Moore and C. Frankton (1969) suggested that it originated as a derivative of ancient hybridization between the ancestors of C. horridulum and C. nuttallii. They further suggested a relationship between C. lecontei and C. grahamii of Arizona and hypothesized an ancient dispersal from the southeastern coastal plain to the western cordillera. Although such relationships are possible, I have seen little support for them in my examination of these taxa. I think it is more likely that C. lecontei, C. horridulum, and C. nuttallii originated from a common stock, and that the resemblances between C. lecontei and C. grahamii are a result of convergence.

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

Cirsium brevistylum occurs in the coast ranges and adjacent coastal slope from southwestern British Columbia to southern California. In the Pacific Northwest its range extends inland to the northern Rocky Mountains of southern British Columbia, Idaho, and northwestern Montana, and the Blue and Wallowa ranges of eastern Oregon. It is absent from the central and southern Cascade Range.

In older literature the name Cirsium edule was widely misapplied to this species. A. Cronquist (1953) pointed out that the type of C. edule has corolla and style features quite different from those of the plants that had been called by that name and established the name C. brevistylum, based upon the notably short styles of this species. Hybrids of C. brevistylum with C. edule have been named C. ×vancouveriense R. J. Moore & C. Frankton.

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

Source FNA vol. 19, p. 114. FNA vol. 19, p. 148.
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. flodmanii, C. foliosum, C. fontinale, C. grahamii, C. helenioides, C. hookerianum, C. horridulum, C. hydrophilum, C. inamoenum, C. joannae, C. kamtschaticum, 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. 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 Carduus lecontei
Name authority Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 2: 458. (1843) Cronquist: Leafl. W. Bot. 7: 26. (1953)
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