OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

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



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.

image of Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum, Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle

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).

image of Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum, Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm160426_133

April    Greenville County    SC

image of Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum, Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle

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).

image of Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum, Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm190425_7771

April    Greenville County    SC

image of Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum, Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle

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.

image of Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum, Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle

Keith Bradley    kab_c_horridulum_0656

April    Lexington County    SC

image of Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum, Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle

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).

image of Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum, Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle

Keith Bradley    kab_c_horridulum_3436

April    Richland County    SC

image of Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum, Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle

Roxanna Martin    rlm4210_024

April    Spartanburg County    SC

image of Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum, Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle

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).

image of Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum, Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle

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).

image of Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum, Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm140521_110

May    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum, Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle

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).

image of Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum, Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm180506_1895

May    Crawford County    GA

image of Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum, Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm180506_1896

May    Crawford County    GA

image of Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum, Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle

JK Marlow    jkm180506_475

May    Crawford County    GA

image of Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum, Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle

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).


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE involucral bracts of Thistles

image of Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum, Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle

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).

image of Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum, Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle

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).

image of Cirsium horridulum var. horridulum, Common Yellow Thistle, Purple Thistle, Bristle Thistle, Horrid Thistle

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

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

259

Forb
Biennial

Habitat: Roadsides, woodlands, pine savannas, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common (rare in Mountains)

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)

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!



 


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