Cirsium flodmanii

      
Flodman's Thistle

Basal Leaf Bottom Close-Up
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.

bullet

Flodmanii:  Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this species.  
bullet

perennial from deep roots; NOT biennial

bullet

plants WITHOUT creeping rootstocks

bullet

plants always with stems

bullet

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

bullet

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

bullet

upper surface of leaves NOT scabrous

bullet

occasionally some lower leaves entire margined

bullet

cauline leaves deeply pinnatifid lobed; NOT subentire to shallowly lobed

bullet

leaf lobes generally less than 7 mm wide

bullet

flowering heads overtopping the foliage; NOT exceeded by the foliage

bullet

heads more than 2.5 cm high

bullet

heads less than 5 cm high

bullet

involucres more than 2 cm high

bullet

involucres rarely over 2.5 cm high

bullet

involucres usually more than 12 mm wide

bullet

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

bullet

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

bullet

bracts with spiny tips

bullet

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

bullet

outer bracts of involucre glandular; NOT eglandular

bullet

outer bracts of involucre more than 2 mm wide at base

bullet

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

bullet

corollas deep purple (rarely white); NOT light purple

bullet

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

bullet

pappus of mature fruit shorter than corolla

 
bullet

Cirsium: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this genus.
bullet

juice watery; NOT milky

bullet

leaves NOT cordate

bullet

leaves with spiny margins

bullet

bracts of involucre NOT dry, NOT parchmenty, usually green

bullet

involucral bracts spiny-tipped but NOT with hooked bristles

bullet

receptacle densely bristly; NOT naked

bullet

flower heads with all florets tubular

bullet

stamens united to form a tube around the pistil

bullet

pappus present, distinct

bullet

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

bullet

pappus bristles much longer than achene

bullet

pappus bristles plumose; NOT naked, NOT merely minutely barbellate