Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Cirsium muticum
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Swamp Thistle at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cirsium muticum
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Cirsium muticum
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-25-011:
Carduus muticus FAMILY Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Cirsium muticum
COMMON NAME:
Swamp Thistle
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_cimu_001_lvd
)
Jeff Ausmus jma_cirmut
August Roscommon County MI
Roscommon State Forest Area: Higgins Township
Stems smooth, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
Jeff Ausmus jma_cirmut2
August Ogemaw County MI
Roscommon State Forest Area: Ogemaw Township
)
Jeff Ausmus jma_cirmut3
August Roscommon County MI
Roscommon State Forest Area: Higgins Township
Involucres spineless but covered with cobwebby hairs; each bract with a sticky glutinous midrib, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
COMPARE
involucral bracts of Thistles
)
Jeff Ausmus jma_cirmut4
August Ogemaw County MI
Roscommon State Forest Area: Ogemaw Township
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_cirsium_muticum
August
Involucres 0.8-1.4" with sticky hairy bracts that usually don't have spines, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_cirsium_muticum_5
August
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Cirsium muticum
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cirsium muticum
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Cirsium muticum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-25-011:
Carduus muticus
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Cirsium muticum
1908
Forb
Biennial
Habitat: swamps, wet thickets, woodlands, seepage slopes, wet prairies, meadows, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Uncommon (rare in Coastal Plain) (rare in GA)
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: Dissected
Alternate
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Disc: Purplish
Rays: Absent
Inferior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p104
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p254
- 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
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".