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Origin:
Introduced
Life Cycle:
Annual or perennial
General Desc:
Erect branched plant, stems smooth above, hairy below. Oblong lower leaves are lobed and much larger than the upper stem leaves which are very narrow and sparser towards the top. Purple (rarely white) thistle-like flower heads grow singly at stem tips.
Identification notes: Perennial may be annual; cobwebby-hairs lower part of stems; lower leaves lobed and much larger than upper, upper narrow to lance-like; flower heads solitary, purplish, rarely white, long stemmed, bracts form rounded base and in several layers.
Height:
To about 2-1/2 feet
Habitat Description: Found in arid, barren, ditches and dry rocky areas along roadsides. Reported in our area only from Jerome in Yavapai County at about 5500 feet.
Plant Communities:
Disturbed Areas
Elevation: Below 5500 feet
Color:
Purple, white (rarely)
Shape:
Daisy or dandelion-like not in clusters
Tubular:
N
Flowering Period:
May - Jun
Description:
Flower head is 1/4 to 3/4 inch wide and consists only of many disc (tube-like) flowers. The flower head sits above a basket-like cluster of overlapping leaf-like bracts that grow in a series of layers, each bract ending in a short, sharp spine.
Leaf Color:
Green
Leaf Type:
Simple
Leaf Shape:
Pinnatifid
Leaf Margin:
Lobed
Leaf Attachment:
Basal and alternate
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
Stems
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
Basal and lower stem leaves have a leaf stalk, are narrowly oblong and grow to about 10 inches long and 2-1/2 inches wide. Upper stem leaves are 3/4 to 1 inch long, toothed, have no leaf stalk, and grow smaller and more sparse towards the stem top.
Fruit Color: Dark brown
Fruit Type: Achene
Fruit Notes: The fruit is dry, oblong, dark brown, 1/8 to 1/4 inch long with a shiny surface that is wrinkled diagonally. On its top is a crown-like tuft of brownish-white or reddish bristles. The fruit does not split open when ripe to release the seed.
Seed Notes: Each fruit produces 1 seed which is attached to a small clump of cottony fluff that is below the bristly tuft at the top of each fruit.
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