Cirsium flodmanii

      
Flodman's Thistle

Whole Plant on Velvet
Douglas Provincial Park
13-Aug-2005

Budd's Flora requires that this plant not possess creeping rootstocks.  Yet Flora of Alberta states the plant sometimes spreads by slender creeping roots.  This is not inconsistent; a rootstock is not a root but rather an underground stem or rhizome.

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Flodmanii:  Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this species.  
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perennial from deep roots; NOT biennial

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plants WITHOUT creeping rootstocks

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plants always with stems

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leaves white woolly beneath; NOT green on both sides when mature

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leaves pale green or gray, somewhat woolly above; leaves NOT [deep green and bristly on upper sides]

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upper surface of leaves NOT scabrous

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occasionally some lower leaves entire margined

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cauline leaves deeply pinnatifid lobed; NOT subentire to shallowly lobed

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leaf lobes generally less than 7 mm wide

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flowering heads overtopping the foliage; NOT exceeded by the foliage

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heads more than 2.5 cm high

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heads less than 5 cm high

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involucres more than 2 cm high

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involucres rarely over 2.5 cm high

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involucres usually more than 12 mm wide

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bracts of involucre progressively longer from outer to inner, NOT more or less equal

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bracts of involucre only slightly, if at all, cobwebby; involucre NOT densely arachnoid

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bracts with spiny tips

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inner bracts of involucre WITHOUT [loose, twisted, and spineless tips]

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outer bracts of involucre glandular; NOT eglandular

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outer bracts of involucre more than 2 mm wide at base

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male and female florets on the same plant or flower head; NOT on separate plants

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corollas deep purple (rarely white); NOT light purple

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achenes up to 5 mm long; NOT more than 5 mm long

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pappus of mature fruit shorter than corolla

 
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Cirsium: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this genus.
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juice watery; NOT milky

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leaves NOT cordate

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leaves with spiny margins

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bracts of involucre NOT dry, NOT parchmenty, usually green

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involucral bracts spiny-tipped but NOT with hooked bristles

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receptacle densely bristly; NOT naked

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flower heads with all florets tubular

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stamens united to form a tube around the pistil

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pappus present, distinct

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pappus of capillary bristles; NOT [of scales, or of awns, or a crown or none]

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pappus bristles much longer than achene

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pappus bristles plumose; NOT naked, NOT merely minutely barbellate