Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Cirsium at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-25-003:
Carduus spinosissimus FAMILY Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Cirsium horridulum
COMMON NAME:
Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Roxanna Martin rlm22109_006
February Spartanburg County SC
This upright biennial first appears as a densely spiny-leafed rosette, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm160426_133
April Greenville County SC
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JK Marlow jkm160426_134
April Greenville County SC
Leaves villous above, grayish arachnoid beneath, dissected, not decurrent, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm190425_7771
April Greenville County SC
)
Keith Bradley kab_c_horridulum_02112
April Miami-Dade County FL
Outer and middle phyllaries appressed-ascending, margins setulose-ciliolate, per Flora of North America.
)
Keith Bradley kab_c_horridulum_0656
April Lexington County SC
)
Keith Bradley kab_c_horridulum_3416
April Richland County SC
Heads 1-10, rarely more, racemose, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Keith Bradley kab_c_horridulum_3436
April Richland County SC
)
Roxanna Martin rlm4210_024
April Spartanburg County SC
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Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_c_horridulum_horridul
April
Leaves spiny on the margin, pinnately lobed, stalkless, clasping stem, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).
)
John B. Nelson jbn_486408361_e5788d3461
May Beaufort-Hampton Counties SC
The yellow-flowered form is restricted to the Coastal Plain, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).
)
JK Marlow jkm140521_110
May Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm140521_115
May Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
The bristles (technically "pappus") on seeds expand into fluffy thistledown, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
)
JK Marlow jkm180506_1895
May Crawford County GA
)
JK Marlow jkm180506_1896
May Crawford County GA
)
JK Marlow jkm180506_475
May Crawford County GA
)
Roxanna Martin rlm5509_064
May Spartanburg County SC
Flower heads more or less enclosed by an outer whorl of spiny leaf-like bracts, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
involucral bracts of Thistles
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_cirsium_horridulum
May
Yellow Thistle is a robust plant w large purple heads frequently > 2" across, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_cirsium_horridulum_5
May
Yellow-flowered plants are found only in the coastal plain, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm190612_9104
June Greenville County SC
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-25-003:
Carduus spinosissimus
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Cirsium horridulum
259
Forb
Biennial
Habitat: Roadsides, woodlands, pine savannas, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (rare in Mountains)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Leaf margins spiny
LEAVES:
Simple
Basal rosette & alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Disc: Purplish-red (yellowish in the Coastal Plain)
Rays: Absent
Inferior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p072
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p032
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p368
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p527
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p430
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p393
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p196
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p131
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p253
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p068
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p285
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p334
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p185
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p335
- Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses (Murphy et al., 1992) p088
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