Cirsium funkiae

(Funk’s Thistle)

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Cirsium funkiae, Mosquito Pass, Park Co. 2885

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Cirsium funkiae, Mosquito Pass, Park Co. 2933

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Cirsium funkiae, Mosquito Pass, Park Co. 2953

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Cirsium funkiae, Black Powder Pass, Summit Co. 05070

Scientific Name Cirsium funkiae USDA PLANTS Symbol n/a
Common Name Funk's Thistle ITIS Taxonomic Serial No. n/a
Family Asteraceae (Sunflower) SEINet
Reference
n/a
Description Life zones and habitat: Subalpine and alpine (10500 to 13500 ft.); open areas, tundra, scree, meadows, windswept alpine ridges.
Plant: Upright perennial, 8 to 28 inches tall; single or a few stout, woolly-hairy, spiney stems.
Leaves: Basal and stem leaves, oblong to narrowly-elliptic 3 to 10 inches long, deeply pinnately-lobed with 8 to 18 pairs of lobes tipped by spines up to nearly 1/2-inch long; smooth to or with woolly hairs above, woolly-hairy below; sessile or clasping.
Inflorescence: Large densely-packed clusters of often nodding, very hairy flower heads, subtended by smaller leaves; no ray flowers; disk florets with pale yellow corolla tubes and yellow styles protruding beyond the corolla lobes; white densely-hairy involucres with unequal-length green phyllaries with spines 1/4 to 5/8-inch long.
Bloom Period: July and August.
References: "Flora of Colorado" Second Edition by Jennifer Ackerfield and "Hiding in Plain Sight: Two New Species..." by Jennifer Ackerdield.
Note: In the research document Thistle be a mess: Untangling the taxonomy of Cirsium (Cardueae: Compositae) in North America by Ackerfield, et al, C. funkiae is determined to have been mis-classified as C. eatonii var. eriocephalum and/or C. scopulorum by various authors.
BONAP Distribution Map
n/a
Colorado Status:
Native

© Tom Lebsack 2024

Banner photo: Castilleja rhexifolia and a brewing storm over the San Juan Mountains