[Illustration: Cirsium neomexicanum
Cirsium undulatum]
Common names: THISTLE, WAVY THISTLE
Arizona desert: (_Cirsium neomexicanum_). Pink-purple.
March-September.
California desert: (_Cirsium mohavense_). Pink-white. Summer.
Texas desert: (_Cirsium undulatum_). Red-purple. October.
Sunflower family. Size: 2 to 4 feet tall, sometimes taller.
Sometimes called Bullthistles, these biennials or perennials with spiny
stems, prickly leaves, and heavy flower heads ranging in color from
white to purple need no introduction to most people.
The Mohave Thistle is the commonest form found in southern California,
being abundant, sometimes in dense stands, in open gravelly valleys, on
rocky slopes, or about alkaline seeps in the Mohave Desert. Range of the
New Mexico Thistle extends westward to the eastern borders of the Mohave
Desert. _Cirsium californica_, with white blossoms, occurs in Death
Valley National Monument at elevations between 4,000 and 5,000 feet.
Navajo and Hopi Indians are reported to use the Thistle plant for
medicinal purposes.