''Cirsium fontinale'', the fountain thistle, is a

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

ing

perennial 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 ...

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

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 ...

. It 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 ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The genus ''

Cirsium ''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 ('' Carduus'', ''Silyb ...

'' is commonly known as the "thistle" genus, ''Cirsium'' being the Greek word for 'thistle.'

Distribution

The species is endemic to limited regions within northern and central California, at elevations not exceeding . Occurrences appear limited to serpentine seeps and

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

s within the

California Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges and the Klamath Mountains. P ...

, in areas of the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

and of

San Luis Obispo County San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo. Junípero Serra founded the Mission ...

. There are three recognized varieties of this species: *''Cirsium fontinale var. campylon'' — Mount Hamilton thistle;

Diablo Range The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges in northern California, United States. It stretches from the eastern San Francisco Bay area at its northern end to the Salinas Valley are ...

and southern

Santa Clara Valley The Santa Clara Valley is a geologic trough in Northern California that extends 90 miles (145 km) south–southeast from San Francisco to Hollister. The longitudinal valley is bordered on the west by the Santa Cruz Mountains and on the east ...

, San Francisco Bay Area. (Federal candidate for listing) *''Cirsium fontinale var. fontinale'' — Fountain thistle;

San Mateo County San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City is the county seat, and the third most populated city following Daly ...

. (Federal and State of California Endangered species) *''Cirsium fontinale var. obispoense'' — Chorro Creek bog thistle;

. (Federal and State of California Endangered species)

Description

All the taxa within ''Cirsium fontinale'' have erect stems with leaves very strongly wavy margins. These tall plants may attain a height of , but may exist in the form of only . 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 In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

is acknowledged to be

. 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 The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

ovate Ovate may refer to: *Ovate (egg-shaped) leaves, tepals, or other botanical parts *Ovate, a type of prehistoric stone hand axe *Ovates, one of three ranks of membership in the Welsh Gorsedd *Vates In modern English, the nouns vates () and ovat ...

shape. There are characteristically many flowers with white, pink or lavender corollae about 20 millimeters in length. Anther bases are sharply sagittate, with oblong tips; the ends of the styles manifest a somewhat swollen node, with a cylindrical superior appendage. The smooth brownish fruits are four to five millimeters in diameter, but distinctly ovoid; many pappus bristles are exhibited.

Varieties

The 3 varieties of ''Cirsium fontinale'' have specific limited distribution ranges, and distinctive features.

''Cirsium fontinale'' var. ''campylon''

''Cirsium fontinale'' var. ''campylon'', the Mount Hamilton thistle, is uncommon, but occurs in widely distributed locations in Santa Clara,

Alameda An alameda is a Avenue (landscape), street or path lined with trees () and may refer to: Places Canada *Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan **Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan Chile ...

and

Stanislaus County , image_skyline = , image_caption = Images, from top down, left to right: Modesto Arch, Knights Ferry's General Store, a view of the Tuolumne River from Waterford , image_flag = , i ...

, in the southeastern San Francisco Bay Area. Elevations of this variety are from in the southern

and the

, including Mount Hamilton. As with the other species varieties, the Mount Hamilton thistle prefers moist areas on

serpentine soil Serpentine soil is an uncommon soil type produced by weathered ultramafic rock such as peridotite and its metamorphic derivatives such as serpentinite. More precisely, serpentine soil contains minerals of the serpentine subgroup, especially anti ...

slopes including

seep A seep or flush is a moist or wet place where water, usually groundwater, reaches the earth's surface from an underground aquifer. Description Seeps are usually not of sufficient volume to be flowing beyond their immediate above-ground location. ...

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...

stream environments, and other wetlands. The California Natural Diversity Database—CNDDB lists 39 location for this variety, of which 33 are in Santa Clara County, 3 are in Alameda County and 3 are in Stanislaus County. It is a candidate for listing on the federal endangered species list. ;Description Morphological differences of the ''C. f.'' var. ''campylon'' compared to other varieties of this species manifest first in a green stem which has a maximum height of . The leaves are densely

tomentose Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant ...

and glandular hairs are not evident. Compared to the other varieties, the flowering heads of ''C. f.'' var. ''campylon'' are strongly and permanently nodding; moreover, its outer phyllaries present a greenish color and have a length of 20 to 30 millimeters. The phyllaries are distinctly recurved and channeled, with the widest dimension below the middle; the upper

phyllary In botanical terminology, a phyllary, also known an involucral bract or tegule, is a single bract of the involucre of a composite flower. The involucre is the grouping of bracts together. Phyllaries are reduced leaf-like structures that form one or ...

element becoming a spine of three to five millimeters. Corolla tubes are five to six millimeters long with a throat of double the tube; lobes are four toe five millimeters and style branches are about the same size as lobes. Fruits are ovoid and smooth.

''Cirsium fontinale'' var. ''fontinale''

''Cirsium fontinale'' var. ''fontinale'', the fountain thistle, is endemic to the eastern

Santa Cruz Mountains The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States. They form a ridge down the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco. They separate the Pacific Ocean from ...

foothills within

, in the southwestern San Francisco Bay Area. It is found at elevations of approximately , which implies a distribution on the lower slopes of the

Montara Mountain Montara Mountain, positioned between the unincorporated community of Montara, California, to the southwest and the city of Pacifica, California, to the north, forms the northern spur of the Santa Cruz Mountains, a narrow mountain range running the ...

Block, within the

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topograp ...

. Habitats are seeps, wetlands and riparian areas associated with

s. The California Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB), maintained by the California Department of Fish and Game, lists 5 occurrences for this variety.California Department of Fish and Wildlife: California Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB)
However at two of these locations, in or near

Edgewood County Park Edgewood County Park and Natural Preserve is a 467-acre protected area located in San Mateo County, California, United States, and is best known for its spring wildflower displays. The park receives about 50,000 visitors each year. Description Ed ...

, plants have not been observed for several years, and these populations are presumed extinct. One colony of ''C. f.'' var. ''fontinale'' was found in the 1980s on serpentine soil along the east side of Upper

Crystal Springs Reservoir Crystal Springs Reservoir is a pair of artificial lakes located in the northern Santa Cruz Mountains of San Mateo County, California situated in the rift valley created by the San Andreas Fault just to the west of the cities of San Mateo and H ...

. A new population was found along a creek in Redwood City within Stulsaft Park in the 2000s. Another population was found in the Town of Woodside, growing on PG&E land on the east side of I-280 between Woodside Road and Farm Hill Blvd. along a perennial stream, while conducting a vegetation survey to replacing their L-109 gas pipeline. Historically this variety occurred in a broader range throughout San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. This ''fontinale'' variety of ''Cirsium fontinale'' was the first to be listed as endangered by the state of California (July, 1979). It is also a federal listed

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

.California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife: California Natural Diversity Database—CNDDB listing of Endangered, Threatened and Rare species.
— state and federal listings as of January 2013. , accessed 4.8.2013 ;Description The stem of ''Cirsium fontinale'' var. ''fontinale'' is generally less than in height, and reddish in color. Leaves are distinctly glandular and thinly tomentose. The inflorescence heads are generally nodding when in bloom, but typically are erect in the fruiting stage. The outer reddish phyllaries are 15 to 20 millimeters in size, and are somewhat recurved: these structures are wider above the middle, but abruptly tipped with a one to two millimeter spine. The corolla tube extends 10 millimeters, with a throat dimension of five to six millimeters and lobes approximately the same size; the style branches have a dimension of three to four millimeters. The ovoid fruits are smooth, and chromosomes are characterized as: 2n=34 +1.

''Cirsium fontinale'' var. ''obispoense''

''Cirsium fontinale'' var. ''obispoense'', the Chorro Creek bog thistle, occurs only in limited portions of the

Santa Lucia Mountains The Santa Lucia Mountains (sæntə luˈsiːə) or Santa Lucia Range is a rugged mountain range in coastal central California, running from Carmel southeast for to the Cuyama River in San Luis Obispo County. The range is never more than from t ...

, of the outer southern California Coast Ranges within

in central California. Its occurrence is principally associated with Chorro Creek. The CNDDB lists 13 occurrences for this variety. As with the other varieties it prefers riparian or seep areas, typically on slopes. It is found at elevations less than . The Chorro Creek bog thistle was listed as a federally endangered species in 1994 and is classified as endangered for its entire range.USDA Plants Profile for ''Cirsium fontinale var. obispoense'' (Chorro Creek Bog thistle)
/ref> ;Description The green to purplish stem of ''C. f.'' var. ''obispoense'' is always less than in height, producing densely tomentose leaves, particularly for lower surfaces. When in bloom, the flowering heads have a nodding habit, but at the fruiting stage, they are erect. The plant's outer green to dark purple phyllaries are of dimension 15 to 20 millimeters; moreover these structures are strongly recurved and somewhat channeled, with the upper half tapering to a one to four millimeter spine. The corolla tube of Chorro Creek bog thistle is seven millimeters in size with a throat ever so slightly larger; the lobes are approximately five millimeters and the style branches of approximately the same scale. Fruits are smooth, ovoid and minutely

scabrous This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

above.

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment of ''Cirsium fontinale''

CalFlora Database: ''Cirsium fontanale'' (fountain thistle)
**Images
U.C. Photo gallery — ''Cirsium fontinale'' (fountain thistle)

U.C. Photo gallery — ''Cirsium fontinale var. campylon'' (Mount Hamilton thistle)

U.C. Photo gallery — ''Cirsium fontinale var. fontinale'' (Fountain thistle)

U.C. Photo gallery — ''Cirsium fontinale var. obispoense'' (Chorro Creek Bog thistle)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1938522 fontinale Endemic flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges ~ Monterey Ranger District, Los Padres National Forest Natural history of San Luis Obispo County, California Natural history of San Mateo County, California Natural history of Santa Clara County, California