Foothills, montane. Meadows. Summer.
Lone Mesa State Park, August 4, 2008.

Cirsium scariosum can be six feet tall or have no stem and lie plastered to the ground.  It is a distinct Thistle because of this and because of its stemless flowers tucked into the leaf axils, and its very light green leaves and stems.

Cirsium scariosum was first collected for science by Thomas Nuttall in Idaho in the 1830s and was named by Nuttall in 1841.  According to Michael Charter's on-line dictionary of botanical names, "scariosum" is for " 'scarious' [meaning] shriveled, thin, dry, often translucent and not green" and probably refers to the very light leaf and stem color and/or to the scarious tips of the phyllaries.

Foothills, montane. Meadows. Summer.
Lone Mesa State Park, August 4, 2008.

Foothills, montane. Meadows. Summer.
Lone Mesa State Park, August 4, 2008.

Foothills, montane. Meadows. Summer.
Lone Mesa State Park, August 15, 2008.

Mature flowers have exploded in a mass of fluff that will carry the seeds on fall winds.