Cirsium fontinale var. fontinale

Cirsium fontinale var. fontinale NatureServe Explorer Species Reports — NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and Canada. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.

ITIS Reports — Cirsium fontinale var. fontinale ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world.

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All the taxa within Cirsium fontinale have erect stems with leaves very strongly wavy margins. These tall plants may attain a height of 2.2 metres (7.2 ft), but may exist in the form of only 0.5 metres (1.6 ft). A given plant may have one or more stems, and the plants are sometimes short-lived, dying after flowering only once, even though the species is acknowledged to be perennial. Lower leaves are typically petioled or tapered, but mostly spiny-lobed; petioles are either spiny-lobed or toothed.

Inflorescences are characterized by prickly heads more or less grouped in a panicle-like cluster, closely subtended by the higher leaves. Involucres are either hemispheric or bell-shaped, with purple to green coloration. Phyllaries range from a lanceolate to ovate shape. There are characteristically many flowers with white, pink or lavender corollae about 20 millimeters in length.