Cirsium remotifolium

Few leaved thistle

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Few leaved thistle is a California native perennial herb found in scattered bioregions of California in open habitats at elevations ranging from moderate to high terrain. Flowering from late spring to early fall, this thistle produces cream or purple flowers in heads 1.5 to 4.5 centimeters wide, with delicate cream or purple corollas. Growing with 3 to 15 decimeter stems that are often much-branched and slightly cobwebby, the plant emerges from a taproot or runner roots. Its leaves are characterized by coarsely dentate or lobed blades, with proximal leaves having spiny petioles and gradually reduced cauline leaves that become increasingly bract-like toward the stem tips. The fruit is relatively small, measuring 4.5 to 5.5 millimeters long, with a pappus extending 13 to 23 millimeters.

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