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 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 quercetorum is a species of thistle endemic to coastal California, its common names include brownie thistle and Alameda thistle.
Cirsium arizonicum, the Arizona thistle, is a North American species of thistle in the family Asteraceae, native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It has been found in Arizona, southeastern California, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, Sonora, and northwestern Chihuahua.
Cirsium neomexicanum is a North American species of thistle known by the common names New Mexico thistle, powderpuff thistle, lavender thistle, foss thistle and desert thistle.
Cirsium ochrocentrum is a species of thistle known by the common name yellowspine thistle. It is native to the Great Plains of the Central United States and to the desert regions of the western United States and northern Mexico. Its range extends from eastern Oregon east to the Black Hills of South Dakota, south as far as the Mexican State of Durango.
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 eatonii, commonly known as Eaton's thistle or mountaintop thistle, is a North American species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae.
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.
Cirsium rydbergii, the alcove thistle, or Rydberg's thistle, is North American species of perennial plants in the family Asteraceae, found in the Colorado Plateau and Canyonlands regions of the southwestern United States, in the States of Utah and Arizona.
Cirsium clavatum, the Fish Lake thistle or fringed thistle, is a North American species of plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae. The species is native to the western United States, the States of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.
Cirsium drummondii, called Drummond's thistle, dwarf thistle or short-stemmed thistle, is a North American species of plant in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae. The species is native to central and western Canada, in every province from Ontario to British Columbia, plus the Northwest Territories. In the United States, it has been found only in the Black Hills of Wyoming and South Dakota.
Cirsium grahamii, called Graham's thistle, is a North American species of plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae. The species is native to Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango, Nuevo León, New Mexico, and Arizona.
Cirsium helenioides, the melancholy thistle, is an Asian and Arctic species of plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae. The species is native to Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Xinjiang, Kazakhstan.
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 longistylum, the long-style thistle, is a North American species of plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae. The species is found only in the central part of the State of Montana in the United States, in the portions of the Rocky Mountains called the Big Belt, Castle, Elkhorn, and Little Belt ranges.
Cirsium nuttallii, called Nuttall's thistle, is a North American species of plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae. The species is native to the coastal plain of the southeastern and south-central United States, from eastern Texas to southeastern Virginia.
Cirsium texanum is a species of plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae found in North America. Common names include Texas thistle, Texas purple thistle or southern thistle. The species is native to northern Mexico and the southern Great Plains of the south-central United States.
