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Cirsium undulatum
Also called Gray Thistle, Pasture Thistle, Wavy Leaf Thistle, Grey Thistle, Wavy Leaved Thistle
Wavyleaf thistle is a tall perennial wildflower native to western and central North America, found in many habitat types such as pastures and open ground. It is a wild species rather than a common garden plant, so its care is largely that of a hardy native thistle.
Cirsium undulatum is a species of thistle known by the common names wavyleaf thistle and gray thistle. It is native to much of central and western North America from British Columbia east to Manitoba and south as far as the State of Durango in Mexico. It has also been found outside of its native range as an introduced species.
Cirsium undulatum is widespread and found in many habitat types. It is a perennial herb exceeding 200 cm (79 in) in height. The stem branches a few times toward the top of the plant if at all. The leaves are very wavy along the edges and usually cut into shallow toothed lobes. The longest near the base of the plant are up to 30 centimetres (12 inches) long. The inflorescence holds one or more flower heads each up to 5 centimetres (2.0 inches) long and wide. The head is lined with spiny phyllaries of different shapes.
Creeping Thistle · Edible thistle · Elk thistle · Yellow thistle · Marsh Thistle · Brook Thistle · Meadow thistle · Spear Thistle · Thistle
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cirsium undulatum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
