''Cirsium boninense'' is a species of

thistle 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 planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. ...

in the family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Bonin Islands The Bonin Islands, also known as the , are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some directly south of Tokyo, Japan and northwest of Guam. The name "Bonin Islands" comes from the Japanese word ''bunin'' (an archaic readi ...

of Tōkyō Metropolis, Japan.

Taxonomy

The species was first described by Japanese botanist Gen-ichi Koidzumi in 1914. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

relates to the type locality ( Chichijima) in the

Description

''Cirsium boninense'' is a

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

with white flowers from May to June that grows to a height of among the grasses and rocks in coastal areas, as well as on the forest floor.

Conservation status

''Cirsium boninense'' is classed as Near Threatened on the Ministry of the Environment Red List. According to the Red Data Book Tokyo, though decreasing on Chichijima, numbers are increasing on and

Nakōdo-jima , native_name_link = , image_caption = Aerial view of Nakōdo-jima, courtesy of MLIT , image_size = , pushpin_map = Japan complete , pushpin_label = Nakōdo-jima , pushpin_label_position = , pushpin_map_alt ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15599350 boninense Flora of the Bonin Islands Endemic flora of Japan Plants described in 1914

Taxonomy

Description

Conservation status

See also

References