Cirsium occidentale var. candidissimum

Snowy thistle

Family: Asteraceae · Type: biennial · Native

Snowy thistle is a California native biennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern California Ranges, northern Sierra Nevada, and central Coast Ranges in disturbed places, scrubland, and open woodland at elevations below 1,900 meters. Flowering from April to September, this plant produces red, white, or pink flowers in large heads 2 to 6 centimeters in diameter, dramatically elevated above its foliage. Growing 40 to 200 centimeters tall with an erect or bushy form, it is densely covered in white woolly hairs that give the plant a striking silvery appearance. Its leaves are similarly white-tomentose, with rigidly spreading phyllary tips 1.5 to 3 centimeters long that create a distinctive spiky texture. The plant's robust growth and dramatic white-woolly covering make it a striking presence in its native habitats.

Habitat: Disturbed places, scrubland, open woodland

Bloom period: Apr-Sep

Elevation: < 1900 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, CaR, n SN, c CCo (Carmel Highlands), MP

California counties: Humboldt, Mendocino, Modoc, Monterey, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Trinity, Mono, El Dorado, Glenn, Lassen, Placer, Shasta, Butte, Alpine, Del Norte, Tulare, Los Angeles, San Mateo, Tehama

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