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Home/Species/ Mojave Thistle

Cirsium mohavense

(Greene) Petrak

Mojave Thistle

G3Vulnerable Found in 14 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G3VulnerableGlobal Rank
HighThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.142524
Element CodePDAST2E1T0
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVascular Plant
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomPlantae
PhylumAnthophyta
ClassDicotyledoneae
OrderAsterales
FamilyAsteraceae
GenusCirsium
Other Common Names
Mojave thistle (EN)
Concept Reference
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Taxonomic Comments
Cirsium mohavense (Green) Petr. was treated in the Flora of North America with Cirsium virginense S.L. Welsh listed as a synonym (Flora of North America Editorial Committee 2006, Keil 2012). Other treatments followed here, have maintained these two taxa as distinct, C. mohavense mainly in California, and C. virgenense mainly in southwestern Utah (Ackerfield et al. 2020, Cronquist 1994, Kartesz 1994, Welsh et al. 2015). Further ongoing research has confirmed C. mohavense to be monophyletic, and supports recognition of C. virginense as distinct from C. mohavense, based on morphological, distributional, and genetic data (Jennifer Ackerfield, pers. comm., Feb. 2022).
Conservation Status
Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2
Review Date2022-02-16
Change Date2022-02-16
Edition Date2022-02-16
Edition AuthorsAuthor unknown (1996), rev. A. Olivero (2003), rev. C. Nordman (2022).
Threat ImpactHigh
Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences21 - 80
Rank Reasons
Mojave Thistle is restricted to wetland habitats in the Mohave Desert region. These habitats are rare and Mojave Thistle is highly threatened by water pumping, water diversions, drought and herbivory. It occurs on a variety of conservation lands, but has a limited number of occurrences and limited area of occupancy throughout its range.
Range Extent Comments
Mojave Thistle is known from the southwestern United States in the Mojave Desert and the Basin and Range, from southern and southeastern California, southern Nevada, and northwestern Arizona, and from Baja California in northwestern Mexico (Ackerfield et al. 2020, Kartesz 1999, Keil 2012, NatureServe 2022, SEINet 2022, Villaseñor 2016).
Occurrences Comments
There are about 75 occurrences of Mojave Thistle, based on locations verified since 1980 (SEINet 2022, NatureServe 2022).
Threat Impact Comments
Mojave Thistle occurs in very limited special wetland habitats in the desert, such as wet soil, streams, alkaline seeps, springs, and alkaline desert meadows (Cronquist 1994, Flora of North America Editorial Committee 2006). It is threatened by water pumping and water diversions (Alexander 2016), drought, and by livestock, feral horse, and burro grazing. Many native thistles are threatened by non-native insects, several which have been released for biological control of exotic thistles. These non-native insects feed extensively on native thistles in natural areas and are having serious consequences (Eckberg et al. 2017).
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Mojave Thistle occurs in very limited special wetland habitats and damp soil in the desert, such as canyons, streams, alkaline seeps, hanging gardens, springs, wet soil, poorly drained alkaline flats, and alkaline desert meadows (Cronquist 1994, Flora of North America Editorial Committee 2006). It is usually associated with saltbush (Atriplex). It occurs at elevations of 250 - 2800 m (Keil 2012).
Terrestrial Habitats
Shrubland/chaparralGrassland/herbaceousDesertBare rock/talus/scree
Palustrine Habitats
HERBACEOUS WETLANDRiparian
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN3
ProvinceRankNative
NevadaS3Yes
UtahSNRYes
ArizonaS2Yes
CaliforniaSNRYes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
2 - Agriculture & aquacultureRestricted (11-30%)Moderate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
2.3 - Livestock farming & ranchingRestricted (11-30%)Moderate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
7 - Natural system modificationsRestricted (11-30%)Serious or 31-70% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
7.2 - Dams & water management/useRestricted (11-30%)Serious or 31-70% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
8 - Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseasesRestricted (11-30%)Serious - moderateHigh (continuing)
8.1 - Invasive non-native/alien species/diseasesRestricted (11-30%)Serious - moderateHigh (continuing)
11 - Climate change & severe weatherLarge - restrictedModerate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
11.2 - DroughtsLarge - restrictedModerate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh (continuing)

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Plant Characteristics
DurationBIENNIAL, PERENNIAL
Economic Value (Genus)No
Roadless Areas (14)
California (8)
AreaForestAcres
Birch CreekInyo National Forest28,816
Black CanyonInyo National Forest32,421
Boundary Peak (CA)Inyo National Forest210,884
Coyote SoutheastInyo National Forest53,159
PaiuteInyo National Forest58,712
Soldier CanyonInyo National Forest40,589
TinemahaInyo National Forest27,060
Wonoga Pk.Inyo National Forest11,272
Nevada (6)
AreaForestAcres
Arc Dome - CarversHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest3,846
Boundary Peak (NV)Inyo National Forest21,851
Charleston - CarpenterHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest17,828
La Madre - TroutHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest2,101
PotosiHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest5,145
Stirling - Clark BHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest741
References (14)
  1. Ackerfield, Jennifer. 2022. Personal communication. Head Curator of Natural History Collections, Associate Director of Biodiversity, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver.
  2. Ackerfield, J.R., D.J. Keil, W.C. Hodgson, M.P. Simmons, S.D. Fehlberg, and V.A. Funk. 2020. Thistle be a mess: Untangling the taxonomy of <i>Cirsium </i>(Cardueae: Compositae) in North America. Journal of Systematics and Evolution 58(6): 881-912.
  3. Cronquist, A. 1994. Asterales. In A. Cronquist, A.H. Holmgren, N.H. Holmgren, J.L. Reveal, and P.K. Holmgren. Intermountain flora: Vascular plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A. Vol. 5. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx. 496 pp.
  4. Eckberg, J., E. Lee-Mader, J. Hopwood, J. Foltz Jordan, and B. Borders. 2017. Native thistles: A conservation pracitioner's guide. Plant ecology, seed production methods, and habitat restoration opportunities. Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Portland, Oregon. 92 pp. Online. Available: https://xerces.org/publications/guidelines/native-thistles-conservation-practitioners-guide (accessed 2022).
  5. Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2006a. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 19. Magnoliophyta: Asteridae, part 6: Asteraceae, part 1. Oxford University Press, New York. xxiv + 579 pp.
  6. Kartesz, J.T. 1988. A flora of Nevada. Ph.D. dissertation. Univ. of Nevada, Reno. 3 volumes. 1729 pp.
  7. Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
  8. Kartesz, J.T. 1999. A synonymized checklist and atlas with biological attributes for the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. First edition. In: Kartesz, J.T., and C.A. Meacham. Synthesis of the North American Flora, Version 1.0. North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, N.C.
  9. Keil, D.J. 2012. <i>Cirsium mohavense</i>, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora. Online. Available: https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=2198 (accessed 2022).
  10. Munz, P.A., with D.D. Keck. 1959. A California flora. Univ. California Press, Berkeley. 1681 pp.
  11. NatureServe. 2022. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia.
  12. Southwest Environmental Information Network (SEINet). 2022. Collections Databases. Online. Available: https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/collections/index.php (accessed 2022).
  13. Villaseñor, J.L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 87: 559-902.
  14. Welsh, S.L., N.D. Atwood, S. Goodrich, and L.C. Higgins. (Eds). 2015. A Utah flora, fifth edition, revised 2015. Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum, Provo, Utah. 987 pp.