SPECIES: Cirsium neomexicanum
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| New Mexico thistle in Mojave National Preserve, CA. Image by Jean Pawek, used with permission. |
Introductory
SPECIES: Cirsium neomexicanum
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION:
Tesky, Julie L. 1994. Cirsium neomexicanum. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/forb/cirneo/all.html [].
ABBREVIATION:
CIRNEO
SYNONYMS:
C. arcuum A. Nels [14]
C. utahense (Muhl. ex. W.Barton) Petrak [17]
NRCS PLANT CODE:
CINE
COMMON NAMES:
New Mexico thistle
lavender thistle
TAXONOMY:
The currently accepted scientific name for New Mexico thistle is Cirsium
neomexicanum Gray [8,14,19]. It is a member of the sunflower family
(Asteraceae). The following varieties are recognized [19]:
Cirsium neomexicanum var. neomexicanum
Cirsium neomexicanum var. utahense (Petrak) Welsh
LIFE FORM:
Forb
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS:
No special status
OTHER STATUS:
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Cirsium neomexicanum
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION:
New Mexico thistle is found in the desert areas of southern California,
Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and northern Mexico [6,8,14].
 |
| Distribution of New Mexico thistle. Map courtesy of USDA, NRCS. 2018. The PLANTS Database.
National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC [2018, April 17] [17]. |
ECOSYSTEMS:
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES30 Desert shrub
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper
STATES:
AZ CA CO NM UT MEXICO
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS:
7 Lower Basin and Range
12 Colorado Plateau
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:
K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
K024 Juniper steppe woodland
K039 Blackbrush
K040 Saltbush - greasewood
K041 Creosotebush
K042 Creosotebush - bursage
K044 Creosotebush - tarbush
SAF COVER TYPES:
238 Western juniper
239 Pinyon - juniper
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES:
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES:
New Mexico thistle is commonly found in creosotebush (Larrea tridentata)
scrub, blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima) scrub, shadscale (Atriplex
confertifolia), sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), salt desert shrub, mountain
brush, Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) woodlands, and pinyon (Pinus
spp.)-juniper (Juniperus spp.) woodlands [12,16,19]. New Mexico thistle
is not listed as a dominant or codominant in the available literature.
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Cirsium neomexicanum
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE:
Thistle (Cirsium spp.) seeds are the favorite food of goldfinches and
many other birds. The flowers provide nectar and pollen for bees [21].
PALATABILITY:
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE:
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE:
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES:
NO-ENTRY
OTHER USES AND VALUES:
The Navajo and Hopi Indians use thistles (Cirsium spp.) for medicinal
purposes [8].
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:
New Mexico thistle is not a weedy species, unlike many other species of
thistle [5].
Many insect species feed on New Mexico thistle. It hosts three
endophagous insect species. Only the pyralid moth attacks the flowering
heads. The artichoke plume moth attacks the stems and crowns of
New Mexico thistle. Phytophagous insects associated with New Mexico thistle
have been listed [5].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Cirsium neomexicanum
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
New Mexico thistle is a native biennial herb [5,12,19]. It is robust,
erect or ascending, moderately to much branched, and 5 to 8 feet
(1.5-2.5 m) tall [14]. The basal leaves are oblong and form a rosette 2
to 10 inches (5-25 cm) broad [14,19]. The petioles of the lower leaves
are narrowly winged and spiny and the upper leaves are sessile [14].
The dead stalks of the previous year persist for some time [19]. The
flowering heads are solitary to few, at the end of a stem or branch [6].
The fruit is an achene with a bristly pappus 0.6 to 0.8 inch (1.5-2 cm)
long [14]. It has a taproot.
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM:
Hemicryptophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES:
Information is not available regarding the regeneration processes of
New Mexico thistle. Because it is a biennial herb it probably only
regenerates by seed. The genus Cirsium is widespread and variable so
inferences about New Mexico thistle from other Cirsium species may not be
valid.
SITE CHARACTERISTICS:
New Mexico thistle is commonly found in sandy to gravelly washes, and on
dry, rocky slopes, mesas, canyon sides, and plains and foothills
[5,6,12,14,18]. It occurs at the following elevations:
southern California - 3,000 to 6,000 feet (900-1,800 m) [12]
Colorado - 4,500 to 6,500 feet (1,400-2,000 m) [6]
Arizona - 1,000 to 6,500 feet (300-2,000 m) [8]
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS:
NO-ENTRY
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT:
New Mexico thistle usually flowers from April to May [5,12].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Cirsium neomexicanum
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS:
Regeneration of New Mexico thistle after fire is not described in the
available literature. However, it probably can colonize burned areas
via seeds.
Fire frequency in the communities where New Mexico thistle occurs is
generally low. In creosotebush scrub communities, fires generally occur
only in years when exceptionally heavy winter rains have produced
abnormally high numbers of annuals. Fires are also rare in blackbrush
communities; however, these communities have been known to burn under
conditions of high temperature, high wind velocity, and low relative
humidity. Shadscale communities rarely burn [7]. Pinyon-juniper
communities historically burned every 10 to 30 years. Where livestock
grazing has reduced grass cover and accelerated erosion, fire frequency
has decreased [20].
FIRE REGIMES:
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY:
NO-ENTRY
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Cirsium neomexicanum
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT:
Information is not available regarding the immediate effects of fire on
New Mexico thistle. Most fires probably kill second-year plants of this
biennial herb. First-year plants may survive late-season or
low-severity fires.
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE:
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Cirsium neomexicanum
REFERENCES:
1. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
[434]
2. Dittberner, Phillip L.; Olson, Michael R. 1983. The plant information
network (PIN) data base: Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Utah, and
Wyoming. FWS/OBS-83/86. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior,
Fish and Wildlife Service. 786 p. [806]
3. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
4. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
5. Goeden, Richard D.; Ricker, Donald W. 1987. Phytophagous insect faunas
of native Cirsium thistles, C. mohavense, C. neomexicanum, & C. nidulum,
in the Mojave Desert of southern California. Annals of the Entomological
Society of America. 80: 161-175. [22162]
6. Harrington, H. D. 1964. Manual of the plants of Colorado. 2d ed.
Chicago: The Swallow Press Inc. 666 p. [6851]
7. Humphrey, Robert R. 1974. Fire in the deserts and desert grassland of
North America. In: Kozlowski, T. T.; Ahlgren, C. E., eds. Fire and
ecosystems. New York: Academic Press: 365-400. [14064]
8. Kearney, Thomas H.; Peebles, Robert H.; Howell, John Thomas; McClintock,
Elizabeth. 1960. Arizona flora. 2d ed. Berkeley, CA: University of
California Press. 1085 p. [6563]
9. Klinkhamer, Peter G. L.; DeJong, Tom J. 1993. Cirsium vulgare (Savi)
Ten.: (Carduus lanceolatus L., Cirsium lanceolatum (L.) Scop., non
Hill). Journal of Ecology. 81: 177-191. [20980]
10. Knipe, O. D.; Pase, C. P.; Carmichael, R. S. 1979. Plants of the Arizona
chaparral. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-64. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment
Station. 54 p. [1365]
11. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
12. Munz, Philip A. 1974. A flora of southern California. Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press. 1086 p. [4924]
13. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
14. Shreve, F.; Wiggins, I. L. 1964. Vegetation and flora of the Sonoran
Desert. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 2 vols. [21016]
15. Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern
Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire
Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 7 p. [20090]
16. Thorne, Robert F.; Prigge, Barry A.; Henrickson, James. 1981. A flora of
the higher ranges and the Kelso Dunes of the eastern Mojave Desert in
California. Aliso. 10(1): 71-186. [3767]
17. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. 2018. PLANTS Database,
[Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation
Service (Producer). Available: https://plants.usda.gov/. [34262]
18. Weber, William A. 1987. Colorado flora: western slope. Boulder, CO:
Colorado Associated University Press. 530 p. [7706]
19. Welsh, Stanley L.; Atwood, N. Duane; Goodrich, Sherel; Higgins, Larry
C., eds. 1987. A Utah flora. Great Basin Naturalist Memoir No. 9. Provo,
UT: Brigham Young University. 894 p. [2944]
20. Wright, Henry A.; Bailey, Arthur W. 1982. Fire ecology: United States
and southern Canada. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 501 p. [2620]
21. Mitich, Larry W. 1988. Thistles I: Cirsium and Carduus. Weed Technology.
2: 228-229. [5507]
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