Participant Info

Species

Cirsium coloradense [Scariosum scariosum var. coloradense]

Family

Asteraceae

CommonName

meadow thistle, Colorado thistle

Presence

YES

Status

native

EarliestDate

1911

LatestDate

2024

Ecosystem

shrubland, foothill, montane, sanddunes

Geobotanical

Garitas, SSanjuans, Culebras, UBasin

Counties

Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Hinsdale, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache

Passes

Cumbres, Medano

WildlifePreserves

Brown Lakes

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

YES Rich Haswell: Rio Grande Co, Groundhog road, off Embargo Creek 23 July 2016

Comments

Cirsium coloradense used to be treated as the caulescent or stemmed variety of Cirsium scariosum, namely C. scariosum var. coloradense. For what was treated as the acaulescent variety, see C. tiogonum (or C. scariosum var. americanum). C. coloradense is fairly common around the Watershed, seeming to prefer mid-elevation, open meadows, but has been found in the lower subalpine and in the Basin shrubland and sand dunes. It is present in Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, where it follows the Rio Grande drainage only as far as Santa Fe Co.

Annotation