Cirsium neomexicanum is a North American species of thistle known by the common names New Mexico thistle, powderpuff thistle, lavender thistle, foss thistle and desert thistle.Calflora taxon report, University of California, Cirsium neomexicanum A. Gray, New Mexico thistle, desert thistle Shreve, F. & I. L. Wiggins. 1964. Vegetation and Flora of the Sonoran Desert 2 vols. Stanford University Press, Stanford
This plant is native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, particularly the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. It has been found in California, Nevada, Arizona, Sonora, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas.Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution mapSEINet, southwestern Biodiversity, Arizona Chapter, Cirsium neomexicanum A. Gray includes description, photos, distribution map
Description Cirsium neomexicanum is a tall plant, routinely exceeding in height. It erects a stem which may have webby fibers and long, stiff spines. The sparse leaves are greenish-gray, hairy, and very spiny.
Atop the mainly naked stems are inflorescences of one or more large flower heads with rounded bases and phyllaries covered in long, curving spines. The largest heads may be up to 5 centimeters (2 inches) in diameter. They are packed with white or lavender to pink disc florets but no ray florets.
The fruit is a flat brown achene with a long pappus which may reach 2 cm long. Unlike many other thistles, this species tends not to be a troublesome noxious weed.Flora of North America, Desert or New Mexico thistle, Cirsium neomexicanum A. Gray
References
External links
photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, collected in Utah, isotype of Cirsium utahense (synonym of C. neomexicanum) Jepson Manual Treatment of Cirsium neomexicanum United States Department of Agriculture, National Forest Service, Index of Species Information, Cirsium neomexicanum