Home/Species/ Pasture Thistle

Cirsium pumilum

(Nutt.) Spreng.

Pasture Thistle

G4Apparently Secure (G4G5) Found in 2 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G4Apparently SecureGlobal Rank

LowThreat Impact

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.156328

Element CodePDAST2E2E0

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVascular Plant

Endemicendemic to a single nation

KingdomPlantae

PhylumAnthophyta

ClassDicotyledoneae

OrderAsterales

FamilyAsteraceae

GenusCirsium

Synonyms

Cirsium pumilum var. pumilum

Other Common Names

pasture 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

Kartesz (1994), followed here, treats Cirsium hillii and Cirsium pumilum as separate at the species level. Keil in FNA (vol. 19, 2006) includes Cirsium hillii (= C. pumilum var. hillii) as a variety of C. pumilum. Therefore according to Keil in FNA (2006) , Kartesz's (1994) C. pumilum here in the narrow sense is equivalent to FNA's C. pumilum var. pumilum, not including C. pumilum var. hillii.

Conservation Status

Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2

Review Date2024-07-03

Change Date1988-08-04

Edition Date2024-07-03

Edition AuthorsTreher (2021), rev. C. Nordman (2024).

Threat ImpactLow

Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences> 300

Rank Reasons

Cirsium pumilum occurs in the Appalachians and Atlantic Coastal Plain of the eastern United States from Maine to South Carolina and west to eastern Ohio. There are more than 300 occurrences. Threats include loss of habitat to residential development, lack of fire and related tree canopy closure, and the impacts from invasive exotic plants and insects.

Range Extent Comments

Cirsium pumilum occurs in the Appalachians and Atlantic Coastal Plain of the eastern United States from Maine to South Carolina and west to eastern Ohio. Range extent was estimated to be 660,000 square kilometers, using herbarium specimens, and photo-based observation data collected between 1993 and 2024 (FNA 2006, GBIF 2024, iNaturalist 2024, Weakley and Southeastern Flora Team 2024).

Occurrences Comments

There are hundreds of occurrences documented by herbarium collections and photo based observations (GBIF 2024, iNaturalist 2024).

Threat Impact Comments

Threats include loss of habitat to residential development, lack of fire and related tree canopy closure, and the impacts from invasive exotic plants and insects introduced to be biological control agents on weedy thistles and non-native musk thistle (Carduus nutans) such as the thistle head weevil, and also attack various native thistles (Eckberg et al. 2017).

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Fields, pastures, open woods, roadsides, at elevations of 0 - 600 m (FNA 2006).

Ecology

Biennials or monocarpic perennials (FNA 2006).

Reproduction

Flowers during the summer, June to August or September (FNA 2006).

Terrestrial Habitats

Forest EdgeWoodland - HardwoodWoodland - ConiferWoodland - MixedSavannaOld field

Other Nations (1)

United StatesN4

Province	Rank	Native
Delaware	S3	Yes
Massachusetts	SNR	Yes
Virginia	S4	Yes
Maine	SNR	Yes
Ohio	S4	Yes
Connecticut	SNR	Yes
Maryland	SNR	Yes
Rhode Island	SNR	Yes
South Carolina	S1	Yes
West Virginia	S4	Yes
New Hampshire	SNR	Yes
Vermont	SNR	Yes
North Carolina	S3	Yes
Pennsylvania	S5	Yes
New York	S5	Yes
District of Columbia	SNR	Yes
New Jersey	S4	Yes

Threat Assessments

Threat	Scope	Severity	Timing
1 - Residential & commercial development	Small (1-10%)	Serious or 31-70% pop. decline	High (continuing)
1.1 - Housing & urban areas	Small (1-10%)	Serious or 31-70% pop. decline	High (continuing)
7 - Natural system modifications	Restricted (11-30%)	Moderate or 11-30% pop. decline	High (continuing)
7.1 - Fire & fire suppression	Restricted (11-30%)	Moderate or 11-30% pop. decline	High (continuing)
7.1.2 - Suppression in fire frequency/intensity	Restricted (11-30%)	Moderate or 11-30% pop. decline	High (continuing)
8 - Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases	Restricted (11-30%)	Moderate or 11-30% pop. decline	High (continuing)
8.1 - Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases	Restricted (11-30%)	Moderate or 11-30% pop. decline	High (continuing)

Plant Characteristics

DurationBIENNIAL, PERENNIAL, Short-lived, SUMMER-FLOWERING

Economic Value (Genus)No

Roadless Areas (2)

West Virginia (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Dolly Sods Roaring Plain	Monongahela National Forest	13,392
Little Mountain	Monongahela National Forest	8,172

References (6)

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).
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.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). 2024. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data portal. Online. Available: https://www.gbif.org/ (accessed 2024).
iNaturalist. 2024. Online. Available: https://www.inaturalist.org (accessed 2024).
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.
Weakley, A.S., and Southeastern Flora Team. 2024. Flora of the southeastern United States. Edition of March 4, 2024. University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 2203 pp.

Cirsium pumilum

Habitat

Ecology

Reproduction

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