Onopordum tauricum

Taurian thistle, Taurian Thistle

Family: Asteraceae · Type: biennial · Not Native

Taurian thistle is a naturalized biennial found in northern Sierra Nevada Foothills, northern Santa Catalina Range, and Modoc Plateau in disturbed sites at elevations below 1,400 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces purple-pink flowers 25 to 30 millimeters long with distinctive spiny phyllaries. Growing up to 2 meters tall with a sticky-glandular habit, it develops robust branching stems. Its large leaves extend 10 to 25 centimeters long, featuring pinnately lobed blades with 6 to 8 pairs of acutely triangular lobes. The fruit is 5 to 6 millimeters long with a pappus of 8 to 10 millimeters.

Habitat: Disturbed sites

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: < 1400 m

Bioregions: SNF, n SCoRO, MP

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