Cirsium Flodmanii
characteristics
A biennial with long and often singular stems covered with a dense whitish fuzz. However, given room to grow, this plant can become a small bush. Leaves are spiny, deeply toothed, greenish on top, woolly gray underneath. One to five wide flowerheads per stem are also covered with spines. Tube shaped flowers are deep pink (magenta) to purple. Seeds are tufted with long bristles. Spreads by rhizomes which become taproots on new plants.
A member of the sunflower family. Very photogenic.
| T | SSN | H | W | sun | soil | H2O | fire | N2 | pH | summer | fall | flower (seed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B | CW-Y | 0.9 | 0.1 | S | F-M-C | M | •• | - | - | silver | silver | magenta |
habitat
Fields, pastures, hills and coulee bottoms.
uses
Very popular plant. American goldfinches love the seed. Bees, butterflies, hoverflies, hornets, and beetles like the flowers a lot. Small insects are sometimes caught in a sticky secretion on the flowers.
North American aboriginals ate the peeled stems.

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