Cirsium parryi
(Parry’s Thistle)
Cirsium parryi, FR 815 near Clear Lake, San Juan Co. 4752
Cirsium parryi, FR 815 near Clear Lake, San Juan Co. 4757
Cirsium parryi, FR 815 near Clear Lake, San Juan Co. 4749
Cirsium parryi, FR 815 near Clear Lake, San Juan Co. 4755
| Scientific Name | Cirsium parryi | USDA PLANTS Symbol | CIPA |
| Common Name | Parry's Thistle | ITIS Taxonomic Serial No. | 36395 |
| Family | Asteraceae (Sunflower) | SEINet Reference |
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| Description |
Life zones and habitat: Montane and alpine (8500 to 13500 ft.); stream banks, meadows, damp soils in coniferous forests. Plant: Upright biennial, 1 to 6 ft. tall; single, hairy, stem with or without nodding branches near the top, purplish below. Leaves: Basal and stem leaves, basal usually absent by flowering; variable in appearance; oblong to lanceolate or oblanceolate 4 to 12 inches long and up to 2 inches wide; margins are entire to coarsely dentate or shallowly to deeply pinnatifid; winged-petiolate or sessile to clasping to slightly decurrent. Inflorescence: One to many flowerheads loosely to densely clustered at stem tips and in the upper leaf axils, closely subtended by clusters of unlobed to deeply dissected, often very spiny bracts; corollas have many disk florets with greenish-yellow protruding styles and no ray flowers; hemispherical involucres about 1 inch long and 1-1/4 inches wide with smooth to cobwebby phyllaries in 5 to 8 layers, with margins that are entire to spiny-ciliate and with spiny tips. Bloom Period: June to August. References: "Flora of Colorado" by Jennifer Ackerfield, Flora of North America and American Southwest. |
BONAP Distribution Map Map Color Key |
Colorado Status: Native |
© Tom Lebsack 2025
Banner photo: Castilleja rhexifolia and a brewing storm over the San Juan Mountains
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