39 

 Cirsium subniveim 



I. SPECIES INFORMATION 



1. SCIENTIFIC NAME: Cirsium subniveum Rydb. 



2. COMMON NAME: Jackson ' s Hole thistle. 



3. FAMILY: Asteraceae (=Compositae, Sunflower 

 Family) . 



4. GENUS: According to Hitchcock et al. (1955-1969), 

 there are perhaps as many as 200 species of 

 Cirsium native to the northern hemisphere, with 

 about 50 native species occurring in North 

 America. The genus Cirsium is most closely allied 

 with the strictly Old World genus Carduus . Dorn 

 (1984) lists 13 species of thistle for Montana, 

 several of which are introduced. 



5. SPECIES: There are currently three locations for 

 C. subniveum in the state. One collection from 

 French Creek (003) was originally thought to be C. 

 neomexicanum Gray var. utahense (Petrak) Welsh as 

 identified by Dr. G. Ownbey, but a second 

 collection from the same area fit the description 

 of C. subniveum , and was identified as such by Dr. 

 Cronquist of the New York Botanical Garden (pers. 

 comm.). Cronquist (Hitchcock et al. 1955-1969) 

 states: "this species differs from the probably 

 closely related C. utahense chiefly in its smaller 

 and apparently much fewer-flowered heads, and more 

 northern and more montane distribution. Further 

 study may show the two to be conspecif ic. " The 

 original collection ( K. Scow and E. Darfler 



(s . n. ) , (MONTU) was recently sent to Dr. S.L. 

 Welsh for annotation. 



B. PRESENT LEGAL OR OTHER FORMAL STATUS 



1. FEDERAL STATUS 



a. U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE: No status. 



b. U.S. FOREST SERVICE: Cirsium subniveum is on 

 the U.S. Forest Service, Region 1 list of 

 sensitive species (U.S. Department of 

 Agriculture 1988) . Objectives and policy of 

 the U.S. Forest Service provide for the 

 management and protection of sensitive 

 species under sections 2670.22 and 2670.32 in 



