| Cirsium muticum | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Genus: | Cirsium |
| Species: | C. muticum |
| Binomial name | |
| Cirsium muticum | |
| Synonyms [2] | |
Synonymy
| |
Cirsium muticum, also known as swamp thistle, marsh thistle, dunce-nettle, or horsetops, is a North American species of plants in the family Asteraceae, native to central and eastern Canada and the central and eastern United States.
Cirsium muticum is a biennial plant that reaches a height of 180 centimetres (71 in). Its taproot is fleshy and its stem is ridged with hairs toward the base. [3] The leaves are alternate in position, pinnately lobed, and ovate in shape. The leaf lobes are often asymmetrical and forked irregularly with the angles containing fine trichomes (multicellular hairs). The leaves become progressively smaller towards the inflorescence; there are often a few trichomes on the underside. [3] The peduncles are 0–15 cm (0.0–5.9 in), each with an inflorescence made up of many tiny florets; the involucre has cobwebby white hairs, and it is often slightly sticky. The purple florets can be up to 27 mm (1.1 in) long. [3] [4]
Cirsium muticum was described by the French naturalist André Michaux in 1803. It is one of many species in the thistle genus Cirsium . The epithet muticum, meaning blunt, refers to its phyllaries.
Cirsium muticum has been found across every province of Canada from Labrador and Newfoundland to Saskatchewan. In the United States, it grows primarily in the Northeast, the Great Lakes region, and the Appalachians, with isolated populations scattered across the South from Texas to the Carolinas. [5] [6] [7]
Cirsium muticum is found mostly in alkaline swamps, wetlands, marshes and low forests but some races have been known to grow in wet alpine climates. [3]
Cirsium muticum is as host for some species of butterflies and moths, including the swamp metalmark butterfly ( Calephelis muticum ), a species that is currently undergoing risk assessment in the United States. The butterfly lays its eggs on the swamp thistle, and when the eggs hatch, the flowers are the only food source for the caterpillars. [8] It is also a larval host to the painted lady butterfly, and songbirds eat its seeds. [9] Species that grow with it include Aster umbellatus (flat-topped white aster), Solidago patula (rough-leaved goldenrod), Lysimachia quadrifolia (prairie loosestrife), and Gentiana procera (smaller fringed gentian). [8]
Swamp thistles can be used to make decorative arrangements. They are often planted in gardens because they are seen as more manageable than other thistles, while still potentially having some anti-herbivory properties. [10]
The plant is not endangered in Canada or the U.S. but it is threatened in the state of Arkansas, [5] and vulnerable in the province of Saskatchewan. [11] Cirsium muticum is at risk primarily because it is a wetland plant, and North American wetlands have been much reduced in extent over the last two centuries.
Cirsium is a genus of perennial and biennial flowering plants in the Asteraceae, one of several genera known commonly as thistles. They are more precisely known as plume thistles. These differ from other thistle genera in having feathered hairs to their achenes. The other genera have a pappus of simple unbranched hairs.
Cirsium vulgare, the spear thistle, bull thistle, or common thistle, is a species of the Asteraceae genus Cirsium, native throughout most of Europe, Western Asia, and northwestern Africa. It is also naturalised in North America, Africa, and Australia and is an invasive weed in some areas. It is the national flower of Scotland.
Cirsium arvense is a perennial species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native throughout Europe and western Asia, northern Africa and widely introduced elsewhere. The standard English name in its native area is creeping thistle. It is also commonly known as Canada thistle and field thistle.
Cirsium edule, the edible thistle or Indian thistle, is a species of thistle in the genus Cirsium, native to western North America from southeastern Alaska south through British Columbia to Washington and Oregon, and locally inland to Idaho. It is a larval host to the mylitta crescent and the painted lady.
Cirsium eriophorum, the woolly thistle, is a herbaceous biennial species of flowering plant in the genus Cirsium of the family Asteraceae. It is widespread across much of Europe. It is a large biennial plant with sharp spines on the tips of the leaves, and long, woolly hairs on much of the foliage. The flower heads are large and nearly spherical, with spines on the outside and many purple disc florets but no ray florets.
Cirsium occidentale, with the common name cobweb thistle or cobwebby thistle, is a North American species of thistle in the family Asteraceae.
Cirsium discolor, the field thistle, is a North American species of plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae. It is native to thirty-three states in the United States as well four Canadian provinces. It occurs across much of eastern and central Canada as well as eastern and central United States. It has been found from New Brunswick west to Saskatchewan and south as far as Texas and Georgia.
Calephelis muticum, the swamp metalmark, is a butterfly species in the family Riodinidae.
Almutaster is a North American genus of plants in the family Asteraceae containing the single species Almutaster pauciflorus, which is known by the common name alkali marsh aster. It is native to Canada, the Western United States, and northern and central Mexico. The genus is named for botanist Almut Gitter Jones.
Cirsium crassicaule is a species of thistle known by the common name slough thistle. It is endemic to the San Joaquin Valley of California, where it is known primarily from freshwater wetlands. It has been found in only a few locations in Kern, Kings, and San Joaquin Counties.
Cirsium scariosum is a species of thistle known by the common names meadow thistle, elk thistle and dwarf thistle. It is native to much of western North America from Alberta and British Columbia, south to Baja California. There are also isolated populations on the Canadian Atlantic Coast, on the Mingan Archipelago in Québec, where it is called the Mingan thistle.
Cirsium parryi, or Parry's thistle, is a species of North American flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the southwestern United States, where it has been found in Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.
Cirsium pumilum var. hillii is a type of thistle endemic to North America. The common name for this plant is Hill's thistle.
Cirsium altissimum is a North American species of plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae. Common names are tall thistle or roadside thistle. The species is native to the eastern and Central United States.
Cirsium horridulum, called bristly thistle, purple thistle, or yellow thistle is a North American species of plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae. It is an annual or biennial. The species is native to the eastern and southern United States from New England to Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma as well as to Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Bahamas.
Cirsium repandum is a North American species of plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae. Common names include sand-hill thistle and coastal-plain thistle. The species is native to the south-eastern United States, the coastal plain in Virginia, Georgia, and the Carolinas.
Lactuca graminifolia, the grassleaf lettuce is a North American species of wild lettuce. It grows in Mexico, Central America, Hispaniola, and the southern United States from Arizona to Florida, Virginia and the Carolinas.
Symphyotrichum racemosum is a species of flowering plant native to parts of the United States and introduced in Canada. It is known as smooth white oldfield aster and small white aster. It is a perennial, herbaceous plant in the family Asteraceae. It is a late-summer and fall blooming flower.
