Cirsium pitcheri | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Asterales |
Family: | Asteraceae |
Genus: | Cirsium |
Species: | C. pitcheri |
Binomial name | |
Cirsium pitcheri | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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Cirsium pitcheri, sometimes called Pitcher's thistle or dune thistle, is a species of thistle native to sand dune shorelines along the upper Great Lakes. It is native to Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ontario. [3] It is listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a threatened species. [4]
Pitcher's thistle is a plant of modest appearance through much of its lifespan; it concentrates most of its biomass in a massive taproot that can be 6 feet (2 m) in length. Its long, narrow, gray-green leaves are protected by spines and dense, silvery hairs. Between 2 and 8 years after germination, the juvenile thistle abruptly matures and sends forth a flower stalk of 100 cm (40 inches) or more in height. At the top of the blooming shoot is a spectacular effusive flower head, ranging in color from creamy white to very light pink, and guarded by spines. Some individuals may be quite bushy, and produce numerous flowering heads. Usually at least 5 years are required for the thistle to reach maturity. Pitcher's thistle is monocarpic; after flowering once, the plant dies. Most of its seeds do not disperse very far, in fact, entire heads are occasionally buried, producing clusters of seedlings. [5]
The Pitcher's thistle is adapted to life on open, windswept, semi-stable sand dune surfaces. It can flower at any time from mid-June through mid-September, depending on the amount of energy it has stored in its taproot and on local rain conditions immediately prior to the flowering.
The Pitcher's thistle was first identified by Dr. Zina Pitcher, an amateur naturalist and U.S. Army field surgeon stationed at Fort Brady, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. In an unknown summer at some point in the 1820s, Dr. Pitcher was granted leave to go on an adventure camping trip west of the fort on a sandy shoreline of Lake Superior. While exploring what are now the Grand Sable Dunes of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Dr. Pitcher discovered a Pitcher's thistle in flower. The physician shipped the specimen to botanists who published and named it in his honor, Cirsium pitcheri. [6] [7]
The Pitcher's thistle is found exclusively along the shorelines of Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior, particularly in areas of sand dunes. [3] Two of the largest remaining populations have been identified in the Nordhouse Dunes area of the Manistee National Forest, and within Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. In addition, Pitcher's thistle continues to grow and flower in some smaller state parks and private tracts along these lake shores.
Great Lakes dune habitat is threatened by invasive species such as spotted knapweed. In addition, the high economic value of Great lakes shoreline for real estate development continues to threaten the Pitcher's thistle. Although it can be locally abundant in areas of relatively undisturbed habitat, the thistle is highly vulnerable because it is adapted to live in locations where many people would like to build vacation homes and resorts and is therefore critically threatened by anthropogenic habitat destruction. This fact, as well as its general vulnerability due to its specialized habitat and restricted range, has led to Pitcher's Thistle being federally listed as a threatened species by the U.S. government; it is also listed as either threatened or endangered at the state level. [8] In Canada it is listed as endangered at both the provincial (Ontario) and federal level. [9]
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.
Indiana Dunes National Park is a United States national park located in northwestern Indiana managed by the National Park Service. It was authorized by Congress in 1966 as the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and was redesignated as the nation's 61st national park on February 15, 2019. The park runs for about 20 miles (32 km) along the southern shore of Lake Michigan; it covers 15,349 acres (6,212 ha) of various acreage. Along the lakefront, the eastern area is roughly the lake shore south to U.S. 12 or U.S. 20 between Michigan City, Indiana, on the east and the ArcelorMittal steel plant on the west. A small extension south of the steel mill continues west along Salt Creek to Indiana 249. The western area is roughly the shoreline south to U.S. 12 between the Burns Ditch west to Broadway in downtown Gary, Indiana. In addition, there are several outlying areas, including Pinhook Bog, in LaPorte County to the east; the Heron Rookery in Porter County, the center of the park; and the Calumet Prairie State Nature Preserve and the Hobart Prairie Grove, both in Lake County, the western end of the park.
Iris lacustris, the dwarf lake iris, is a plant species in the genus Iris, subgenus Limniris and in the section Lophiris. It is a rhizomatous, beardless perennial plant, native to the Great Lakes region of eastern North America. It has lavender blue or violet-blue flowers, a very short stem and long fan-like green leaves. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions. It is closely related to Iris cristata.
The Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness is a 3,450-acre (14.0 km2) listed wilderness area within the Manistee National Forest. It is located north of Ludington, Michigan, and is best known for its 4 miles (6.4 km) of undeveloped Lake Michigan shoreline.
Cirsium discolor, the field thistle, is a North American species of plants in the thistle tribe, within the sunflower family. 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.
Chaenactis glabriuscula, with the common name Yellow pincushion, is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family. It is native to California and Baja California.
Cirsium hydrophilum is a species of thistle which is endemic to California, where it is found only in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. This native thistle grows in wet boggy habitats.
The Indiana Dunes comprise ten different habitats. Each provides for a unique combination of plants and animals. The range of the Indiana Dunes varies depending your source. The Indiana Lake Michigan Coastal Program uses the river drainage systems along the shoreline. This expands the area from the areas of lakeshore southward to the edges of the Valparaiso Moraine. This entire region has been dune landscapes since over 114,000 years before present (YBP). Traditionally, the Indiana Dunes area thought of as a narrow area along the shores of Lake Michigan, including the areas of Marquette Park in Gary, Indiana (1920), Indiana Dunes State Park (1926) and Indiana Dunes National Park,. The identified ten habitats can be found in these parks, where they have been preserved, but are also visible throughout the three counties of Northwest Indiana.
Cirsium vinaceum is a rare species of thistle known by the common name Sacramento Mountains thistle. It is endemic to Otero County, New Mexico, in the United States, where it is known only from the Sacramento Mountains. The plant can be found in six canyon systems in a southern section of this mountain range spanning about 32 kilometers. It is rare because it is limited to a specific type of mountain wetland which is both naturally uncommon and threatened by a number of forces. The plant was federally listed as threatened in 1987.
Hypericum cumulicola is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae known by the common name highlands scrub hypericum, or highlands scrub St. John's wort. It is endemic to Florida, where it is threatened by habitat loss and degradation. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Cirsium lecontei, often called the Le Conte's thistle, is a North American plant species native to the southeastern United States. It is a perennial, or sometimes biennial, species of the thistle tribe within the sunflower family. It grows along the coastal plain from Louisiana to North Carolina.
Erythranthe michiganensis is a rare species of flowering plant in the lopseed family, known by the common name Michigan monkeyflower. This species occurs only in the Grand Traverse and Mackinac Straits areas within the American state of Michigan. It is one of only three plant species that are endemic to Michigan, with the other two being Voss's Goldenrod and Packera insulae-regalis.
Solidago houghtonii is a rare North American species of flowering plant in the aster family known as Houghton's goldenrod. It is native to southern Ontario, Canada and the northern United States. It is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States and it is designated a species of special concern by Canada's Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.
Cirsium pumilum var. hillii is a type of thistle endemic to North America. The common name for this plant is Hill's thistle.
Cirsium muticum, also known as swamp thistle, marsh thistle, dunce-nettle, or horsetops, is a North American species of plants in the sunflower family, native to central and eastern Canada and the central and eastern United States.
Cirsium ownbeyi, or Ownbey's thistle, is a rare North American species of flowering plant in the aster family. It is endemic to the United States, where it has a narrow distribution in northeast Utah, southwest Wyoming, and northwest Colorado. There are around 30 known populations with a total of approximately 25,000 individuals.
Cirsium eatonii, commonly known as Eaton's thistle or mountaintop thistle, is a North American species of flowering plants in the aster family.
Cirsium perplexans is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names Rocky Mountain thistle and Adobe Hills thistle. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States, where it occurs in the Colorado and Gunnison River Valleys in the Rocky Mountains.
Cirsium horridulum, called bristly thistle, horrid thistle, yellow thistle or bull thistle, is a North American species of plants in the thistle tribe within the sunflower family. 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.
Asimina reticulata, the netted pawpaw, is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Florida in the United States.