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New Mexico Thistle (Cirsium neomexicanum)
Perennial Forbs Around Las Vegas, Vegetation Around Las Vegas
New Mexico Thistle (Cirsium neomexicanum)

General: New Mexico Thistle (Cirsium neomexicanum) is a two-year or short-lived perennial that spends the first year as a rosette of spiky leaves. In the second year, it sends up a flower stalk with spiky leaves and topped with a spike-protected, white flowerhead.

New Mexico Thistle is a fairly common component of vegetation communities in dry, well-drained sandy and gravelly areas on desert flats, bajadas, and moderate slopes in the lower mountains in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zones.

Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae).

Other Names: Desert Thistle.

New Mexico Thistle (Cirsium neomexicanum)

Plant Form: Basal rosette, then upright stalks topped with flowerheads.

Height: To about 6 feet.

Stems: Usually a single main stem that branches above to a few stems

Leaves: Gray, with hairs (tomentose). Basal leaves 4-8 inches, long and narrow with spiked lobes. Upper leaves few, small, spiny.

Flowers: Blooms in the spring. Inflorescence: flowerhead formed of many flowers. Flowers generally emerge from a round, spiky ball; flowers with long, upright petals.

New Mexico Thistle (Cirsium neomexicanum)
Basal rosette

Seeds: achene.

Habitat: Rocky and dry, well-drained sandy and gravelly areas on desert flats, bajadas, and moderate slopes.

Elevation: 2,500 to 7,000 feet.

Distribution: Southern California to Colorado and New Mexico.

Comments: The seeds of this plant are a favorite for Lesser Goldfinches, who usually delay breeding until the seeds are ready to eat.

New Mexico Thistle (Cirsium neomexicanum)
New Mexico Thistle in typical habitat
New Mexico Thistle (Cirsium neomexicanum)
New Mexico Thistle in typical habitat
New Mexico Thistle (Cirsium neomexicanum)
Leaf with spines
New Mexico Thistle (Cirsium neomexicanum)
Leaf with spines
New Mexico Thistle (Cirsium neomexicanum)
White flowers
New Mexico Thistle (Cirsium neomexicanum)
Spiky flowerhead

Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate. Names generally follow the USDA database.
copyright; Last updated 240620

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