roundish ball head, pink to purple disk flowers, bracts subtending flower head
Fruit
seeds spread on "Thistledown"
Leaves
simple large leaves, shallow lobed but not divided, spiny teeth, whitish underneath with a dense fuzz
Stems
pubescent stem
Roots
tap root
Dimensions
3-4 to 10 feet
Propagation
seeds floating on Thistledown (pappus)
Misc Facts
Cirsium isderived from the Greek word kirsion, "a kind of thistle". Cirsos meaning "a swollen vein" for which thistle was once a remedy. Altissimum is Latin for "especially tall"
Notes & Reference
#56-Tall Grass Prairie Wildflowers (Doug Ladd), #100-Wildflowers of Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest (Merel Black and Emmet Judziewicz), #140-Prairie Plants of the UW Madison Arboretum (Theodore Cochrane, Kandis Elliot, Claudia Lipke)