''Cirsium remotifolium'' is a species of

thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. ...

known by the common name fewleaf thistle. It is native to the western United States, including the Pacific Coast and possibly as far east as the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

, depending on which populations are treated as part of the species.Flora of North America
/ref> It is sometimes part of the

serpentine soil Serpentine soil is an uncommon soil type produced by weathered ultramafic rock such as peridotite and its metamorphic derivatives such as serpentinite. More precisely, serpentine soil contains minerals of the serpentine subgroup, especially anti ...

s flora. This native thistle is a perennial herb growing up to about 1.5 meters tall. The leaves are borne on spiny petioles and are toothed or lobed, the lowest leaves at the base of the stem reaching 50 centimeters in length. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is made up of clustered

flower heads A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...

which are lined with spiny phyllaries. The head is filled with white or purple flowers up to 2.5 centimeters long. The fruit is an

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...

a few millimeters long topped with a pappus up to about 2 centimeters in length.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
remotifolium Flora of North America {{Cynareae-stub