Cirsium andersonii (Anderson's Thistle)

7/8/16 Lundy Canyon Trail, Inyo National Forest, 

Eastern Sierra, Mono County, CA

 7/8/16 Lundy Canyon Trail

  

LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Anderson's Thistle

SPECIES: Cirsium andersonii

FAMILY: Polygonaceae (Buckwheat Family)

LIFE LIST DATE:8/16/2004

LOCATION: Lundy Canyon Trail, Inyo National Forest, Eastern Sierra, Mono County, CA

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Treatment from The Jepson Manual (1993):

Perennial, often appearing biennial, (1.5)4–7(10) dm; caudices erect, taprooted, from rootstock

Stem 1–several, simple or branches ascending, ± glabrous to puberulent and or tomentose

Leaves generally green above, ± persistently gray-tomentose below; lower 8–35 cm, petiole spiny-winged, coarsely dentate or shallowly to deeply 1–2 X lobed, main spines 1–5 mm; middle ± clasping; upper generally much reduced, linear-oblong, often spinier than lower

Inflorescence: heads 1–few; peduncles < 20 cm (lateral heads sometimes ± sessile); involucre 3–5 cm, 2–4 cm diam, widely cylindric to narrowly bell-shaped, closely subtended by 1–several bracts, loosely tomentose or glabrous; phyllaries strongly graduated, ascending, ± lanceolate, long-acuminate, middle and outer entire or spiny-ciliate, tip spines 1–3 mm, inner tips entire, long, flat, purple

Flowers: corollas 30–45 mm, red to reddish purple, tube 10–20 mm, throat 10–16 mm, lobes 9–11 mm

Fruit 6–7 mm, compressed, brown; pappus 25–40 mm

Ecology: Open places, woodland, forest

Elevation: (760)1400–3150 m.  

Bioregional distribution: Klamath Ranges, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada 

Distribution outside California: to se Idaho?, Nevada