Stats

Lifespan

Perennial

Size

Medium

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Temperate grassland

Range

North America

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Seeds

Defense

Spines

Status

G3g4

About

The cobwebby thistle wraps its stems and leaf bases in a dense mat of white, spider-web-like hairs that protect it from coastal winds and deter many herbivores. Its vivid magenta flower heads are a key nectar source for monarch butterflies and native bees across the coastal scrub and grasslands of western North America.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Asterales

Family

Asteraceae

Genus

Cirsium

Species

Cirsium occidentale