Carthamus creticus

Smooth distaff thistle

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Smooth distaff thistle is a naturalized annual found in southern North Coast Ranges, central Sierra Nevada Foothills, central Great Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, southwestern California, and western Mojave Desert in disturbed ground at elevations below 650 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces bright yellow flowers in spiny, recurved involucres 20 to 25 millimeters wide. Growing with white stems 40 to 100 centimeters tall that are sparsely hairy, it forms an upright, branching habit. Its cauline leaves are deeply lobed and very spiny, creating a distinctive defensive structure. The fruit is small, brown, and measures 4 to 6 millimeters long with a pappus 8 to 10 millimeters in length.

Habitat: Disturbed ground

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: < 650 m

Bioregions: s NCoR, c SNF, c GV, SnFrB, SW, w DMoj

California counties: Calaveras, Orange, San Joaquin, Mendocino, Yolo, Ventura, San Mateo, Contra Costa, Solano, Sonoma, Napa, Los Angeles, Tuolumne, San Luis Obispo, San Diego, Santa Clara, Marin

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.