Cirsium andrewsii

Franciscan thistle

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Franciscan thistle is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native perennial found in northern Coast Ranges and northern central Coast Ranges in bluffs, ravines, and seeps, occasionally on serpentine at elevations below 100 meters. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces dark red-purple to cream flowers in heads 1.5 to 3 centimeters wide, arranged in loose clusters. Growing 60 to 200 centimeters tall with much-branched stems that are fleshy and initially cobwebby before becoming glabrous, it develops a distinctive branching structure. Its leaves are complex, with lower leaves 30 to 75 centimeters long, generally 1 to 2 times lobed, and upper leaves progressively smaller and more spiny, with ear-like clasping bases and spines up to 15 millimeters long. The fruit is small, approximately 4 to 5 millimeters long with a pappus about 15 millimeters in length.

Habitat: Bluffs, ravines, seeps, occasionally on serpentine

Bloom period: May-Sep

Elevation: < 100 m

Bioregions: NCo, n CCo.

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