Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Cirsium altissimum
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Tall Thistle at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cirsium altissimum
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-25-006:
Carduus altissimus
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
COMMON NAME:
Tall Thistle
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_cial2_001_lvd
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JK Marlow jkm170818_638
August Jackson County NC
Big Ridge Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm170818_641
August Jackson County NC
Big Ridge Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm170818_642
August Jackson County NC
Big Ridge Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm070927_016b
September Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
Involucres have the middle and outer bracts tipped with a spine, per Wildflowers of Tennessee.
)
JK Marlow jkm070927_017
September Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
)
JK Marlow jkm070927_021
September Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
Involucres 2-3.5cm long, 2-3.5cm broad, weakly arachnose, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
COMPARE
involucral bracts of Thistles
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JK Marlow jkm120910_572
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm120910_583
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm120910_591
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Leaves lobed or unlobed, leaf margins not revolute, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
)
JK Marlow jkm120910_594
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Stems are smooth and leaves are white-woolly on the undersides, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
)
JK Marlow jkm120910_600
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Most of its cauline leaves are unlobed, though they may have large teeth, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
)
JK Marlow jkm120910_607
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Heads pedunculate, per Weakley's Flora.
)
JK Marlow jkm120910_611
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm180903_4527
September Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm180903_4529
September Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm210914_3686
September Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm210914_3687
September Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm210919_3730
September Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm210919_3731
September Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm210919_3732
September Greenville County SC
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_cirsium_altissimum
September
)
JK Marlow s070927_ef
September Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
Leaves densely white-hairy beneath, per Wildflowers of Tennessee.
)
JK Marlow jkm151024_540b
October Greenville County SC
Blue Wall Preserve
The pappus is plumose [feathery], per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
)
JK Marlow jkm151030_622
October Greenville County SC
Blue Wall Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm151030_625
October Greenville County SC
Blue Wall Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm151030_628
October Greenville County SC
Blue Wall Preserve
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Cirsium altissimum
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cirsium altissimum
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-25-006:
Carduus altissimus
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
332
Forb
Biennial
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC
Uncommon (rare in Coastal Plain)
Look for it in pastures, woodlands, thickets, per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a more detailed map from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium,
or click here to see a map from SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Leaf margins spiny
LEAVES:
Simple: Lobed, unlobed and/or dissected
Alternate
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Disc: Purplish-lavender
Rays: Absent
Bisexual
Inferior ovary
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide p430
- Southern Appalachian Wildflowers p132
- Wildflowers of Tennessee p283
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians p333
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains p185