Cirsium drummondii (Short-stemmed Thistle) - photos and description
Inner bracts of involucre with loose, twisted, and spineless tips
Disk rays pulled away highlighting an inner bract
General: Stout-stemmed plants with an unbranched growth habit. Plants acaulescent or caulescent (Flora of North America). Stems villous.
Flowers: Flower heads large, purple in colour, flower head measured at 7 cm diameter. Involucre measured at 4 cm tall. Lower bracts ovate measured at 15 mm long by 7 mm wide. Inner most bracts are wrinkled / twisted and have no spine.
Leaves: Leaves very prickly, alternate, oblanceolate, leaf highlighted in photo above was 17 cm long by 4 cm wide. Leaves are divided 3/4 to the midrib, segments triangular in shape.
Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora from 10 to 30 cm tall; listed in Flora of North America from 5 to 110 cm tall. We measured plants to 58 cm tall.
Habitat: Meadows, open woods, forest edges, and roadsides.
Abundance: Rare, listed as an S3 (as of 2021) by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.
Origin: Native.
When and where photographed: Photos taken August 1st, forest meadow, Parr Hill, Porcupine Provincial Forest, about 400 km northeast of our home in Regina, SK. Plants were nearly finished flowering when we photographed them, early to mid July might be a better time to photograph this plant.