Cirsium altissimum is a North American species of plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae. Common name is tall thistle or roadside thistle. The species is native to the eastern and Central United States, with a range extending from Massachusetts west to North Dakota and south to Texas and the Florida Panhandle.Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map Cirsium altissimum is, as the name implies, a tall herb, sometimes reaching as much as 400 cm (160 inches or 13 1/3 feet). It is a biennial or perennial, blooming only once before dying. Leaves are toothed or shallowly lobed, with fine spines along the edge. Sometimes there is only one flower head but more often more, with pink or purple (rarely white) disc florets but no ray florets. Flowers bloom June to October. The species grows in prairies, open woodlands, and disturbed sites.Flora of North America, Tall or roadside thistle, Cirsium altissimum (Linnaeus) Sprengel
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Cirsium altissimum has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens5
Marker genes5
GenBank sequences5
eDNA detections3
Countries1
The DNA barcodea real sequence read deposited for this species
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★matK2★rbcL1★rbcLa★ITS2★ITS2
plant barcodefungal barcode
06Genome at a glanceCCDB · GoaT · TreeOfSex
The complete instruction manualCirsium altissimum carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
CCDB · ipcn-api-dl — Dabydeen, S. 1997. Natural hybridization in the genus Cirsium: C. altissimum x C. discolor-cytological and morphological evidence. Rhodora 99: 152–160.
CCDB · book-ipcn67-71 — OWNBEY, G.B., & W.A. OLSON. 1969. Cytotaxonomic notes on the species of Cirsium native to the Southeastern United States. Rhodora 71: 285-296.
CCDB · book-ipcn67-71 — MOORE, R.J., & C. FRANKTON. 1969. Cytotaxonomy of some Cirsium species of the eastern United States, with a key to eastern species. Canad. J. Bot. 4 7 : 125 7 - 12 7 5 .
CCDB · book-ipcn67-71 — FERNANDES, A., & M. QUEIROS. 1971. Contribution a la connaissance cytotaxinomique des Spermatophyta du Portugal. II Compositae Bol. soc. Brot. 45 (ser. 2l: 5-122.
CCDB · book-ipcn73-74 — TALAVERA, S. 1974. Contribucion al estudio cariologico del genera Cirsium en la peninsula Iberica. Lagascalia 4: 285-296.
2n 201×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl
CCDB · ipcn-api-dl — Love, A. & D. Love. 1982. In: IOPB chromosome number reports LXXVI. Taxon 31: 583–587.
Ploidy records — measured levels and diploid/polyploid inferences · click for sources
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy86% within 1 km
≤100 m 1 293≤1 km 228≤10 km 89>10 km 164
1 774 georeferenced · 421 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor2 195
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy46% within 1 km
≤100 m 99≤1 km 197≤10 km 294>10 km 54
644 georeferenced · 464 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence1 108
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions56 of 79 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Wuzhou, CN
187
Chicago, US
106
Madison, US
92
Saint Louis, US
82
Chongqing Museumlocation not on record
74
Oregon State Universitylocation not on record
73
Bronx, US
65
St. Paul, US
56
Bloomington, US
56
Pittsburg, US
29
Fort Worth, US
25
Fayetteville, US
16
Lincoln, US
15
Bangkok, TH
15
Ann Arbor, US
15
GAlocation not on record
14
Jackson, US
12
Chadron, US
12
Emporia, US
10
Springfield, US
8
Chapel Hill, US
7
Jena Microbial Resource Collectionlocation not on record
7
Davenport, US
7
Dekalb, US
6
GB
5
Henderson State Universitylocation not on record
5
Tuscaloosa, US
5
DOI/NPS, Mississippi National River & Recreation Arealocation not on record
5
College Park, US
4
Clemson, US
4
Turlock, US
4
Columbia, US
4
Western Carolina Universitylocation not on record
4
Knoxville, US
3
Tall Timbers Research Stationlocation not on record
3
Burlington, US
3
Chicago, US
3
Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record
3
Little Rock, US
3
San Luis Obispo, US
3
Millersville, US
3
Maryland Department of Natural Resourceslocation not on record
3
University of Wisconsinlocation not on record
2
Columbus State Universitylocation not on record
2
Jefferson City, US
2
China Agricultural Universitylocation not on record
2
EL PASO, US
2
Minia, EG
2
Beijing, CN
2
Edmonton, CA
2
AUAlocation not on record
2
Science Museum of Minnesotalocation not on record
2
McWane Science Centerlocation not on record
2
Philadelphia, US
1
Philadelphia, US
1
Moscow, US
1
Whitewater, US
1
UMKClocation not on record
1
DOI/NPS, Selma to Montgomery National Historic Traillocation not on record
1
San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record
1
US
1
Québec, CA
1
San Angelo, US
1
Conway, US
1
DOI/NPS, Greenbelt Parklocation not on record
1
University of Tennessee at Chattanoogalocation not on record
1
Macomb, US
1
Allentown, US
1
Austin, US
1
Musee des Dinosaures d'Esperaza (Aude)location not on record
1
Conway, US
1
Morgantown, US
1
Denton, US
1
Denver, US
1
LINUlocation not on record
1
Kirksville, US
1
Green Bay, US
1
Mississippi State, US
1
Johnson City, US
1
79 institutions · 1 104 of 1 108 vouchered records shown · 4 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA3 detections
Where the DNA of Cirsium altissimum was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found3
Studies independent surveys1
Countries1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 3 detections have coordinates
Open the map1 country0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median24.9 °C 23.4–26.3
Seasonal swing summer↔winter21.3 °C
Max temp (day)30.5 °C 29.2–31.8
Min temp (night)20.5 °C 19.1–21.9
Precipitation96.7 mm/mo 95.1–98.3
Air humidity58.7 % 58.2–59.1
Moisture balance-38.6 mm/mo -51.9–-25.2
Vapour deficit1,308 Pa 1,208–1,408
Wind speed1.90 m/s 1.60–2.10
Cloud cover28.3 % 27.5–29.2
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 2 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation3 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility3 303 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI3 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics5 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
Tree of SexTree of Sex Consortiumgenome & karyotype↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗