Flora of North America species comparison

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Cirsium scariosum

Cirsium undulatum

chardon écailleux, dinnerplate thistle, elk thistle, meadow thistle

gray thistle, wavy-leaf thistle, wavyleaf or gray or pasture thistle
Habit Biennials or monocarpic perennials, acaulescent, short caulescent and forming low rounded mounds, or caulescent and erect, 0–200 cm; taprooted. Perennials, 20–230 cm; deeply seated runner roots that produce adventitious buds.
Stems

absent, or with crowded branches from near base, or simple and erect, often fleshy and thickened, glabrous to thinly gray- tomentose, often villous with septate trichomes.

1–several, erect or ascending, densely gray-tomentose;

branches 0–few, usually above middle, ascending.
Leaves

blades linear to elliptic, 5–20 × 3–7 cm, plane to strongly undulate, unlobed or shallowly to deeply pinnatifid, lobes linear-lanceolate to broadly triangular, closely spaced, spreading, spinose-dentate or lobed, main spines slender to stout, 2–15+ mm, abaxial faces glabrous or thinly to densely tomentose, ± villous with septate trichomes along the veins, glabrate or trichomes persistent, adaxial thinly arachnoid tomentose and soon glabrescent;

basal often present at flowering, sessile or winged-petiolate;

cauline many in caulescent forms, reduced distally or not, winged-petiolate or distal sessile;

distal often well developed, similar to proximal, sometimes much narrower and bractlike.

blades elliptic to oblong or ovate, 10–40 × 1–10 cm, margins strongly undulate, coarsely dentate or shallowly to deeply lobed, lobes ascending to spreading, ± triangular, well separated to closely spaced, spinulose and coarsely dentate or usually cleft into 2–3 lanceolate to triangular, often entire-margined, spine-tipped divisions, main spines (yellowish), 2–12+ mm, abaxial densely gray-tomentose, adaxial faces thinly tomentose;

basal sometimes present at flowering, winged-petiolate;

principal cauline becoming sessile and progressively reduced distally, widest at base, bases ± auriculate-clasping to short-decurrent;

distal reduced, spinier.
Peduncles

0–10 cm, leafy-bracted.

0–25+ cm.
Involucres

ovoid to hemispheric, 2–4 × 1.5–6 cm, loosely arachnoid on phyllary margins or glabrate.

ovoid to hemispheric or broadly campanulate, 2.5–4.5 × 1.5–4.5 cm, loosely arachnoid on phyllary margins or glabrate.
Corollas

white or pale lavender to purple, 20–40 mm, tubes 7–24 mm, throats 4–12 mm (noticeably larger than tubes), lobes 4–10 mm;

style tips 3.5–8 mm.

lavender to pink, purple, or white, 24–50 mm, tubes 12–28 mm, throats 6–14 mm, lobes 6.5–13 mm;

style tips 5–7.5 mm.
Phyllaries

in 5–10 series, imbricate, ovate or lanceolate (outer) to linear or linear-lanceolate (inner), margins (outer) entire or scarious-fringed, abaxial faces without glutinous ridge;

outer and mid appressed, spines erect to spreading 0.5–13 mm;

apices of mid and inner narrowed and scabro-denticulate or with expanded, erose-dentate tips, spineless or tipped with flattened spines.

in 8–12 series, imbricate, ovate to lanceolate (outer) to linear-lanceolate (inner), abaxial faces with prominent glutinous ridge;

outer and middle appressed, spines spreading, 1.5–5 mm;

apices of inner narrow, often flexuous, flat, ± entire, spineless or weakly spiny.
Heads

1–many, erect, borne singly or often densely crowded in spiciform, racemiform, or subcapitate arrays, especially in acaulescent or short-caulescent plants, often closely subtended by distalmost leaves.

1–10+, terminal on branches, in leafy, ± corymbiform arrays.
Cypselae

light to dark brown, 4–6.5 mm, apical collars usually colored like body;

pappi 17–35 mm, white to tan.

light to dark brown, 6–7 mm, bodies and apical collars concolorous, narrow;

pappi 20–38 mm (usually scabridulous).
2n

= 34, 36.

= 26.

Cirsium scariosum

Cirsium undulatum
Phenology Flowering spring–autumn (May–Oct).
Habitat Mixedgrass prairie, shortgrass prairie, Palouse prairie, sagebrush deserts, pinyon-juniper woodlands, openings in montane coniferous forests, often in disturbed areas
Elevation 100–2800 m (300–9200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; QC; disjunct to e Que (Mingan Archipelago)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; MI; MN; MO; MT; ND; NE; NM; OK; OR; PA; SD; TX; UT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; SK; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 8 (8 in the flora).

Cirsium scariosum is a widely distributed complex of intergrading races distributed from southwestern Canada to northwestern Mexico. These plants range from acaulescent rosettes with a tight cluster of sessile heads to tall, erect, unbranched plants, or moundlike, more or less openly branched herbs. Acaulescent and caulescent plants sometimes occur in the same population.

Members of this complex have been variously treated in the past. F. Petrak (1917) recognized ten species plus several subspecies for the taxa I am treating here as C. scariosum (in the broad sense). In floras, the names C. drummondii and C. foliosum have been widely misapplied to these plants (R. J. Moore and C. Frankton 1964). The latter two species, while clearly related to C. scariosum, have a range restricted mostly to Canada. Moore and Frankton (1967) attempted to bring order to the complex and recognized four species for plants that I include here in C. scariosum: C. acaulescens, C. congdonii, C. coloradense, and C. scariosum in the restricted sense. Moore and Frankton substituted the prior name C. tioganum for C. acaulescens. Unfortunately they did not extend their study widely enough and did not include some members of the complex in their investigations. S. L. Welsh (1982) proposed C. scariosum var. thorneae from Utah and lumped the various species recognized by Moore and Frankton within a highly polymorphic var. scariosum. After consulting with A. Cronquist and studying his manuscript treatment of Cirsium for the Intermountain Flora, D. J. Keil and C. E. Turner (1993) also accepted a broadly construed C. scariosum. Cronquist (1994) treated C. scariosum as an extremely variable species that included the four species recognized by Moore and Frankton plus the variety proposed by Welsh. Cronquist chose to not recognize infraspecific taxa.

In the present treatment I have examined these plants from a biogeographic perspective with the goal of discerning regional patterns of variation. The large number of specimens available has allowed me to examine distributional patterns in relation to the topography and biogeographic history of the regions where this species occurs. My field studies also have provided me with observations that help to explain some of the anomalous specimens represented in herbaria. Although the variation within and between populations is sometimes amazing, more-or-less differentiated geographic races can be discerned. Because of the extraordinary and overlapping patterns of variation across the range of Cirsium scariosum, the following key to varieties should be regarded as at best an approximation.

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

Cirsium undulatum is widely distributed in the wstern half of North America from the dry plains and plateaus of the Pacific Northwest eastward across the Great Plains to Manitoba and the Dakotas and south to Texas, New Mexico, and northwestern Mexico. It occurs in scattered localities in the Rocky Mountains and northeastern Great Basin region. At least some of the few widely scattered records from the eastern United States are probably introductions. Cirsium undulatum is both widespread and variable. Plants of the Great Plains region tend to be low-growing with a few large heads and elongate corollas. Plants of the Pacific Northwest are usually taller and produce smaller, more numerous heads with shorter corollas. A detailed study of this species might reveal races worthy of recognition as infraspecific taxa.

Wavyleaf thistle is listed by California as a noxious weed. However, most reports of Cirsium undulatum in California are based upon misidentifications of C. canescens. Cirsium undulatum is known to hybridize with C. flodmanii, C. hookerianum, and C. scariosum var. coloradense. J. T. Howell (1960b) reported that C. undulatum was suspected to hybridize with C. brevifolium in the Pacific Northwest.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Plants acaulescent (occasional short-caulescent individuals sometimes present in a population)
→ 2
1. Plants caulescent (occasional acaulescent individuals sometimes present in a population)
→ 4
2. Corollas pink to purple; Sierra Nevada of w Nevada and e California to San Bernardino Mountains of s California
var. congdonii
2. Corollas white to faintly pink-or lilac-tinged; widespread
→ 3
3. Abaxial leaf faces usually gray-tomentose; widespread, Colorado to s Oregon, n California
var. americanum
3. Abaxial leaf faces usually green, glabrous or glabrate; s. California
var. citrinum
4. Larger leaf spines 1–3 cm
Cirsium scariosum var. thorneae
4. Larger leaf spines usually shorter
→ 5
5. Corollas purple
→ 6
5. Corollas white to faintly pink- or lilac-tinged
→ 7
6. Corolla lobes 5.5–8 mm; sw. Idaho, n Nevada, se Oregon
var. toiyabense
6. Corolla lobes 3.5–6 mm; e Oregon to sw Montana
var. scariosum
7. Stems usually proximally branched, plants often forming low, rounded mound; heads usually borne on short to ± elongate lateral branches; corollas 26–36 mm
→ 8
7. Stems usually erect, proximally unbranched; heads usually sessile or short-pedunculate in subcapitate to spiciform or racemiform arrays, usually closely subtended by numerous distal leaves; corollas 20–29 mm
→ 9
8. Apices of inner phyllaries acuminate and entire or rarely toothed; s California
var. citrinum
8. Apices of inner phyllaries usually expanded as a scarious, erose-toothed appendage; ne California, se Oregon
var. robustum
9. Heads usually ± tightly clustered at stem tips, closely subtended and often overtopped by crowded distal leaves; distal leaves ± thin, usually fringed with numerous weak spines, often ± unpigmented proximally or tinged pink to purplish
var. scariosum
9. Heads usually in ± leafy, racemiform arrays, usually subtended by ± reduced, bractlike distal leaves; distal leaves firm, strongly spiny, usually green throughout
var. coloradense
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 1. FNA vol. 19, p. 120.
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. 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. 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. 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. vinaceum, C. virginianum, C. vulgare, C. wheeleri, C. wrightii
Subordinate taxa
C. scariosum var. americanum, C. scariosum var. citrinum, C. scariosum var. coloradense, C. scariosum var. congdonii, C. scariosum var. robustum, C. scariosum var. scariosum, C. scariosum var. toiyabense
Synonyms C. hookerianum var. scariosum Carduus undulatus, C. megacephalum, C. undulatum var. megacephalum
Name authority Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 420. (1841) (Nuttall) Sprengel: Syst. Veg. 3: 374. (1826)
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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