''Cirsium peckii'', the Steens Mountain thistle, is a very spiny and prickly perennial plant in the family Asteraceae that grows in the

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...

of the western United States.Great Basin Wildflowers, Laird R. Blackwell, 2006, Morris Book Publishing LLC.,

Growth pattern

It is a perennial plant that grows with a single nonbranching erect stem from tall, covered with sharp stiff hairs.

Leaves and stems

Leaves are lanceolate and deeply divided, with sharp, pointed, yellow needle-like teeth on the points of lobes, and are either hairless or have sparse hairs on the midrib. The lower leaves are long.

Inflorescence and fruit

Light lavender heads of flowers are clustered at the base of the leaves along the upper part of the stem. It flowers from June to August.

Range and habitat

It grows from on dry slopes and rocky places in sagebrush steppe communities of the

, to southern Oregon where it can be found on Steens Mountain.

Etymology

Morton Peck Morton Eaton Peck (1871–1959) was an American botanist specializing in flora of Oregon. He was professor of botany at Willamette University. He wrote '' Manual of the Higher Plants of Oregon''. Botanist Arthur Cronquist Arthur John Cronquist ...

was a 20th-century professor of botany at Willamette University and author of ''

A Manual of the Higher Plants of Oregon ''Manual of the Higher Plants of Oregon'' was an early flora of plants of Oregon written by Morton Peck.Morton Peck, Oregon Encyclopedia/ref> It was praised for its format, portability, phylogenetic keys, having new species recorded, and comple ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18387500 peckii Taxa named by Louis Forniquet Henderson