New Mexico Thistle
Cirsium neomexicanum, Sunflower Family ( Compositae ), New Mexico Thistle. Also called Lavender Thistle.
Perennial Herb.
Height: Up To About 8 Feet Tall.
Flowers: Color, Pink to Purple. Up to about 2 - 3 inches across surrounded by spine-tipped bracts. The lower, outer bracts point down, the upper, inner bracts point up and are slightly twisted.
The flowering heads are solitary to a few, at the end of a stem or branch.
Blooming Time: March - May.
Fruit: The fruit is an achene with a bristly pappus 0.6 to 0.8 inch long.
Leaves: The basal leaves are oblong and form a rosette 2 - 10 inches across. The petioles of the lower leaves are narrowly winged and spiny and the upper leaves are sessile.
Green leaves pinnately lobed, spiny, up to about 7 inches long.
Found: Throughout Arizona. Normally at well drained deserts and slopes.
Elevation: 600 - 6,500 Feet.
Habitat: Commonly found in sandy to gravelly washes, and on dry, rocky slopes, mesas, canyon sides, and plains and foothills.
Miscellaneous: Flowering Photos Taken May 1, 2003 near Lake Pleasant.
