Cirsium vinaceum

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Cirsium vinaceum
Cirsium vinaceum.jpg
Status TNC G1.svg
Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Cirsium
Species:
C. vinaceum
Binomial name
Cirsium vinaceum
Synonyms [2]

Carduus vinaceusWooton & Standl.

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. [3] [4] The plant can be found in six canyon systems in a southern section of this mountain range spanning about 32 kilometers. [5] [6] 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. [5] The plant was federally listed as threatened in 1987. [7]

Contents

Description

This thistle is a perennial herb which can grow to 200 cm (80 inches) in height. The plant is mostly purple, particularly the stems and inflorescences. The rosetted leaves are up to 50 cm (20 inches) long and are mostly green, edged with yellow spines. Each robust plant produces many flower heads which hang on nodding branches. Flowering occurs during the summer. Each head is 3 [4] to 5 [6] centimeters wide and long and has an involucre of phyllaries which are purple, curve outward, and taper into hard, toothed spines. The head bears many hairlike pinkish purple flowers. The fruit is an achene with a plumelike pappus up to 2 centimeters long. This thistle may resemble musk thistle (Carduus nutans) in appearance. [6] [8]

Habitat

This plant's native habitat is a network of streams and seeps at 8000 feet elevation and above. The plants root in water-filled cracks in the travertine rock of the canyon streams, tolerating constant saturation. [4] They sometimes grow in the streams themselves. [7] The waterways are generally surrounded by meadow habitat and Douglas-fir forests. [4] Other trees in the area include Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), New Mexico locust (Robinia neomexicana), and Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii). [7] Many populations of the plant are located within the bounds of Lincoln National Forest. [7]

Endangered status

Environmental

The thistle depends on streams and seeps for its survival. This habitat is threatened with destruction via the diversion of water. [4] [7] The wetland habitat can be damaged by logging, road maintenance, and recreational activity. [7] Livestock range over much of the area and can drastically alter the land by trampling it. [7] The plant once occurred in a wider range of mountain wetland habitat in this area, but now it is mainly limited to steep rocky canyons that are inaccessible to livestock. [3] The effect of livestock on the habitat became clear when animals were excluded from a sensitive area and the thistle proliferated in their absence. [7] Introduced plant species in the area, such as musk thistle and Fuller's teasel (Dipsacus sylvestris), outcompete the native plant. [7] [9] The teasel is perhaps the worst offender; it has been seen sprouting up in the middle of stands of the thistle. [4]

Competition

A 2010 update suggests that direct plant-plant competition is not a severe problem at this time, but that climate change could encourage it. [5] A number of insects have been noted to feed on the plant, especially favoring the developing fruits in the seed heads. [5] Noted insects include the gall fly Paracantha gentilis , the artichoke plume moth Platyptilia carduidactyla , the bumble flower beetle Euphoria inda , and the stem borer weevil Lixus pervestitus . [5] Large sections of several thistle populations have been damaged by one or more of these insects. [5] The non-native flower head weevil Rhinocyllus conicus has the potential to damage the thistle; it was purposely introduced to North America in an attempt to control various species of invasive thistles which are noxious weeds, including musk thistle. [10] The weevil was never released in New Mexico because of its potential to attack the native thistle; unfortunately, it has moved into the area on its own. [10] So far its distribution is limited but it is expected to spread. [10] The extent of the expected damage to the species is not known. [10]

Extent

At the time the plant was added to the endangered species list there were about 20 populations left for a total of up to 15,000 plants. [7] It is sometimes difficult to determine the bounds of a population and to count the number of biological individuals within it. This plant, which grows in or near water, undergoes aquatic seed dispersal; it drops seeds which then float downstream to root far from the mother plant. [11] Depending on what defines a population in this particular species, what appears to be many separate patches of plants all the way down a particular waterway might be called a single population. [11] This becomes important if a number of populations is a criterion for protection of the species. [11] Furthermore, the plant often reproduces vegetatively via rhizome; what appears to be a large stand of a great many plants may truly be one genetic individual and its clones. [6] This becomes important in estimating the genetic diversity of the species.

Protected status

When the thistle's federal protection status was reviewed in 2010, it was determined that there were fewer sites occupied by the plant, fewer populations, and usually fewer stems or individuals at known survey sites. Most of the same threats occur now that occurred at the time of listing. The Fish and Wildlife Service does not recommend a change to the plant's protection status. [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Cirsium</i> Genus of flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae

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.

<i>Onopordum acanthium</i> Species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae

Onopordum acanthium is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to Europe and Western Asia from the Iberian Peninsula east to Kazakhstan, and north to central Scandinavia, and widely naturalised elsewhere, with especially large populations present in the United States and Australia. It is a vigorous biennial plant with coarse, spiny leaves and conspicuous spiny-winged stems.

<i>Carduus</i> Genus of flowering plants in the daisy family

Carduus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, and the tribe Cardueae, one of two genera considered to be true thistles, the other being Cirsium. Plants of the genus are known commonly as plumeless thistles. They are native to Eurasia and Africa, and several are known elsewhere as introduced species. This genus is noted for its disproportionately high number of noxious weeds compared to other flowering plant genera.

<i>Cirsium arvense</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thistle</span> Common name of a group of flowering plants

Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the plant – on the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. These prickles are an adaptation that protects the plant from being eaten by herbivores. Typically, an involucre with a clasping shape similar to a cup or urn subtends each of a thistle's flower heads. The typically feathery pappus of a ripe thistle flower is known as thistle-down.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sacramento Mountains (New Mexico)</span> Mountain range

The Sacramento Mountains are a mountain range in the south-central part of the U.S. state of New Mexico, lying just east of Alamogordo in Otero County. From north to south, the Sacramento Mountains extend for 85 miles (137 km), and from east to west they encompass 42 miles (68 km).

<i>Cirsium fontinale</i> Species of thistle

Cirsium fontinale, the fountain thistle, is a flowering perennial herb in the family Asteraceae. It is endemic to California. The genus Cirsium is commonly known as the "thistle" genus, Cirsium being the Greek word for 'thistle.'

<i>Cirsium pitcheri</i> Species of thistle

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. It is listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a threatened species.

<i>Rhinocyllus conicus</i> Species of beetle

Rhinocyllus conicus is a species of true weevil. It is best known as a controversial agent of biological pest control which has been used against noxious thistles in the genera Carduus, Cirsium, Onopordum, and Silybum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loch Lomond Vernal Pool Ecological Reserve</span> Natural reserve in California

The Loch Lomond Vernal Pool Ecological Reserve is a nature reserve of 8.22 acres (33,300 m2) in the community of Loch Lomond in Lake County, California. It is one of 119 ecological reserves managed by the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG). The ecological reserve system was authorized by the state legislature in 1968 for the purpose of conservation and protection of rare plants, animals and habitats.

<i>Cirsium undulatum</i> Species of thistle

Cirsium undulatum is a species of thistle known by the common names wavyleaf thistle and gray thistle. It is native to much of central and western North America from British Columbia east to Manitoba and south as far as the State of Durango in Mexico. It has also been found outside of its native range as an introduced species.

<i>Hedeoma todsenii</i> Species of flowering plant

Hedeoma todsenii is a rare species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name Todsen's pennyroyal, or Todsen's false pennyroyal. It is endemic to New Mexico in the United States, where it occurs in the San Andres and Sacramento Mountains. It is federally listed as an endangered species of the United States.

<i>Spiranthes diluvialis</i> Species of orchid

Spiranthes diluvialis is a rare species of orchid known as Ute lady's tresses. The species name diluvialis means "of the flood". It is native to the western United States, where there are scattered, mostly small occurrences in the states of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. An occurrence was recently discovered in southern British Columbia. The plant faces a number of threats to its existence. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.

Eurybia horrida is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names spiny aster and horrid herrickia. It is native to Colorado and New Mexico in the United States, where it occurs only in the Canadian River basin. It most often included in genus Eurybia.

<i>Cirsium muticum</i> Species of thistle

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 ownbeyi, or Ownbey's thistle, is a rare North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceaey. 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.

<i>Cirsium perplexans</i> Species of thistle

Cirsium perplexans is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae 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.

<i>Yucca neomexicana</i> Species of flowering plant

Yucca neomexicanaWooton & Standl. is a plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to New Mexico, Colorado and Oklahoma. Common name is "New Mexican Spanish bayonet." It is similar to Y. harrimaniaeTrel. but with a longer flowering stalk and white flowers.

<i>Cirsium wrightii</i> Species of thistle

Cirsium wrightii, or Wright's marsh thistle, is an endangered species of North American plants in the family Asteraceae. It is a monocarpic perennial sometimes reaching as much as 300 cm in height.

<i>Lorandersonia baileyi</i> Species of flowering plant

Lorandersonia baileyi, is a North American species of flowering plants in the tribe Astereae within the family Asteraceae. It was initially discovered in the Guadalupe Mountains of New Mexico in 1902, and has since been collected in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Nuevo León.

References

  1. ↑ "NatureServe Explorer". NatureServe Explorer. NatureServe. 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  2. ↑ The Plant List, Cirsium vinaceum (Wooton & Standl.) Wooton & Standl.
  3. 1 2 Cirsium vinaceum. The Nature Conservancy.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cirsium vinaceum. Archived 2010-12-15 at the Wayback Machine Center for Plant Conservation.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 USFWS. Cirsium vinaceum Five-year Review. August, 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Cirsium vinaceum. New Mexico Rare Plants.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 USFWS. Final rule to determine Cirsium vinaceum (Sacramento Mountain Thistle) to be threatened species. Federal Register June 16, 1987.
  8. ↑ Flora of North America, Sacramento Mountains thistle, Cirsium vinaceum (Wooton & Standley) Wooton & Standley
  9. ↑ Huenneke, L. F. and J. K. Thomson. (2005). Potential interference between a threatened endemic thistle and an invasive nonnative plant. Conservation Biology 9(2) 416.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Gardner, K. T., et al. A survey for Rhinocyllus conicus and its impacts on the endangered Sacramento Mountains thistle (Cirsium vinaceum). Archived 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine New Mexico State University. (poster)
  11. 1 2 3 Craddock, C. L. and L. F. Huenneke. (1997). Aquatic seed dispersal and its implications in Cirsium vinaceum, a threatened endemic thistle of New Mexico. American Midland Naturalist 138(1) 115.
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