Cirsium scariosum var. loncholepis

La graciosa thistle, La Graciosa Thistle

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1 · Endangered

La graciosa thistle is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native perennial found in the southern Central Coast region of southwestern San Luis Obispo and northwestern Santa Barbara counties in marsh and dune wetland habitats at elevations below 50 meters. Flowering from April to September, this thistle produces white to faintly purple-tinged flowers in dense clusters with involucres 2 to 3.5 centimeters wide. Growing with stems 10 to 100 centimeters tall that are generally branched throughout, it forms a basal rosette with distinctive spiny leaves. Its leaves have main leaf spines 3 to 10 millimeters long and appear mostly glabrous on the underside, with outer phyllary spine tips ranging 1 to 6 millimeters. The flower heads are sessile or short-peduncled, closely surrounded by the basal rosette or clustered at branch tips.

Habitat: Marshes, dune wetlands

Bloom period: Apr-Sep

Elevation: < 50 m

Bioregions: s CCo (sw San Luis Obispo, nw Santa Barbara cos.).

California counties: Kern, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo

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