Cirsium undulatum is a species of thistle known by the common names wavyleaf thistle and gray thistle.Calflora taxon report, University of California, Cirsium undulatum (Nutt.) Spreng., wavy leaved thistle, wavyleaf thistle It is native to much of central and western North America from British Columbia east to Manitoba and south as far as the State of Durango in Mexico. It has also been found outside of its native range as an introduced species.Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map Cirsium undulatum is widespread and found in many habitat types. It is a perennial herb exceeding 200 cm in height. The stem branches a few times toward the top of the plant if at all. The leaves are very wavy along the edges and usually cut into shallow toothed lobes. The longest near the base of the plant are up to 30 cm long. The inflorescence holds one or more flower heads each up to 5 cm long and wide. The head is lined with spiny phyllaries of different shapes. The flowers in the head are white to lavender to pink and up to 5 cm long. The fruit is an achene a few millimeters long with a pappus which may be up to 4 centimeters in length.Flora of North America, Cirsium undulatumUnited States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile Cirsium undulatum has been shown to have its seed production reduced by an exotic weevil Larinus planus which was released to control Canada thistle.
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 undulatum has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens10
Marker genes5
GenBank sequences10
eDNA detections6
Countries2
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.
★matK4★rbcL2★rbcLa★ITS4★ITS2
plant barcodefungal barcode
06Genome at a glanceCCDB · GoaT · TreeOfSex
The complete instruction manualCirsium undulatum 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 — Love, A. & D. Love. 1982. In: A Löve (ed.), IOPB chromosome number reports LXXV. Taxon 31(2): 344–360.
CCDB · ipcn-api-dl — Dabydeen, S. 1987. Natural hybridization in the genus Cirsium: C. flodmanii x C. undulatum. Rhodora 89: 369–373.
CCDB · ipcn-api-dl — Ownbey, G. B., P. H. Raven & D. W. Kyhos. 1975 [1976]. Chromosome numbers in some North American species of the genus Cirsium. III. Western United States, Mexico, and Guatemala. Brittonia 27(4): 297–304.
CCDB · book-ipcn66 — Taylor & Brockman 1966
CCDB · book-ipcn67-71 — OWNBEY, G.B. 1968. Cytotaxonomic notes on eleven species of Cirsium native to Mexico. Brittonia 20: 336-342.
CCDB · book-ipcn67-71 — OWNBEY, G.B., & Y-T. HSI. 1969. Chromosome numbers in some North American species of the genus Cirsium. II. Western United states. Madrono 20: 225-228.
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.
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy92% within 1 km
≤100 m 2 879≤1 km 492≤10 km 152>10 km 150
3 673 georeferenced · 1 112 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor4 785
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 accuracy35% within 1 km
≤100 m 112≤1 km 304≤10 km 577>10 km 183
1 176 georeferenced · 734 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence1 910
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 institutions66 of 90 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
445
Bronx, US
115
Austin, US
90
Chicago, US
86
Pullman, US
76
DOI/NPS, Greenbelt Parklocation not on record
67
Fort Worth, US
57
Albuquerque, US
55
WTUlocation not on record
54
DOI/NPS, Colonial National Historical Parklocation not on record
53
Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record
48
Bozeman, US
47
Spearfish, US
43
Corvallis, US
40
Vancouver, CA
39
Provo, US
37
Lubbock, US
35
Denver, US
35
Missoula, US
34
Chongqing Museumlocation not on record
32
Moscow, US
30
Musee des Dinosaures d'Esperaza (Aude)location not on record
28
EL PASO, US
27
Saint Louis, US
25
Austin, US
22
University of Alberta Museumslocation not on record
17
San Luis Obispo, US
15
Flagstaff, US
15
Logan, US
15
Denton, US
14
Emporia, US
10
Lincoln, US
10
Riverside, US
10
Durango, MX
10
Victoria, CA
9
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
9
Madison, US
8
San Angelo, US
8
Pocatello, US
7
Pittsburg, US
7
USFSlocation not on record
7
ASUlocation not on record
7
Guasave, MX
6
Bangkok, TH
6
St. Paul, US
5
Claremont, US
5
Phoenix, US
4
San Diego, US
4
Bloomington, US
4
San Bernardino, US
3
Boise, US
3
Chadron, US
3
DOI/NPS, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Sitelocation not on record
3
Grand Junction, US
3
Burlington, US
3
Tempe, US
3
BClocation not on record
3
BAYLUlocation not on record
3
Brookings, US
2
USFS/BHSClocation not on record
2
Columbia, US
2
Portland, US
2
Québec, CA
2
Giardini Botanici Hanburylocation not on record
2
Davenport, US
2
Weber State Universitylocation not on record
2
Minot State Universitylocation not on record
2
Bend, US
2
Davis, US
1
Miami, US
1
Moscow State Universitylocation not on record
1
Tuscaloosa, US
1
Los Angeles, US
1
Whitewater, US
1
CASlocation not on record
1
San Diego Natural History Museum, Herbariumlocation not on record
1
Research Collection of B. A. Bennettlocation not on record
1
Henderson State Universitylocation not on record
1
Tacoma, US
1
Cheney, US
1
Millersville, US
1
US
1
Taipei, TW
1
Staten Island, US
1
New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Sciencelocation not on record
1
Whitehorse, CA
1
Toronto, CA
1
Durango, US
1
Autlán de Navarro, MX
1
McWane Science Centerlocation not on record
1
90 institutions · 1 901 of 1 910 vouchered records shown · 8 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA6 detections
Where the DNA of Cirsium undulatum 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 found6
Studies independent surveys1
Countries2
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 6 detections have coordinates
Open the map2 countries0
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 median17.9 °C 3.90–19.9
Seasonal swing summer↔winter32.3 °C
Max temp (day)24.8 °C 7.30–26.5
Min temp (night)13.2 °C 1.30–15.2
Precipitation49.7 mm/mo 19.5–63.7
Air humidity56.6 % 54.5–63.6
Moisture balance-96.4 mm/mo -121–-33.8
Vapour deficit926 Pa 448–1,038
Wind speed4.10 m/s 2.30–5.10
Cloud cover34.8 % 27.1–50.1
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 5 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 Facility6 695 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI6 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics10 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↗