Cirsium andersonii

Anderson's thistle

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Anderson's thistle is a California native perennial herb found in the Klamath Ranges, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, and North Coast Mountains in open woodland and forest areas at elevations of 1,100 to 3,150 meters. Flowering from July to September, this plant produces bright rose-purple flowers in heads 3 to 5 centimeters wide with distinctive lanceolate phyllaries. Growing with stems 4 to 7 tall with multiple branches that are nearly glabrous or minutely hairy, it develops from runner roots. Its leaves are green on top with a persistently gray-tomentose underside, with lower leaves up to 35 centimeters long featuring coarsely dentate or lobed blades and spiny-winged petioles. The flowers have long, purple-tipped inner phyllaries and a corolla that reaches 30 to 45 millimeters in length.

Habitat: Open places, woodland, forest

Bloom period: Jul-Sep

Elevation: (250)1100-3150 m

Bioregions: KR, CaR, SN, MP

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