Cirsium occidentale var. venustum

Venus thistle, Venus Thistle

Family: Asteraceae · Type: biennial · Native

Venus thistle is a California native biennial found in northern California bioregions including the Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, and western desert mountains in disturbed areas, grassland, and woodland at elevations up to 3,600 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces bright red-pink to red flowers in large heads 2 to 6 centimeters in diameter, occasionally clustered at the ends of long peduncles. Growing 50 to 300 centimeters tall with erect stems, it develops an impressive vertical structure that stands out in its habitat. Its involucre is notable for graduated phyllary tips that are 5 to 20 millimeters long, ascending to rigidly spreading or reflexed. The flower's distinctive bright red-pink coloration and tall, upright form make it a striking presence in grassland and woodland environments.

Habitat: Disturbed areas, grassland, woodland

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: < 3600 m

Bioregions: NCoR, n SNH, s SN, ScV, SnFrB, SCoR, WTR, W&ampI, w DMoj.

California counties: Kern, Alameda, Butte, Contra Costa, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Inyo, Lake, Los Angeles, Mendocino, Merced, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Riverside, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, San Francisco, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Colusa, Madera, Yolo, Marin, Nevada, Plumas, Mariposa, Placer, Sierra, Amador, Yuba, Kings

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