Cirsium funkiae
| Funky thistle | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Genus: | Cirsium |
| Species: | C. funkiae
|
| Binomial name | |
| Cirsium funkiae Ackerf.
| |
Cirsium funkiae, the funky thistle or Funk's thistle, is a species of thistle found in the United States. It was first described by American botanist Jennifer Ackerfield in 2022.
The funky thistle's common name refers to the plant's "funky" appearance, with a nodding woolly flower head, and additionally honors Ackerfield's mentor Vicki Funk, who was also described as funky. The funky thistle can be differentiated from the similar looking mountain thistle Cirsium scopulorum by the coloration of the style branches and corolla, and the nodding flowerhead that the funky thistle exhibits.
Taxonomy
Cirsium funkiae was discerned as a separate species by Jennifer Ackerfield, head curator at the
C. funkiae was formerly considered for more than 150 years as part of
The holotype specimen is housed in the Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium at Denver Botanic Gardens.[7] It was selected to be the institution's 100,000th accession into the natural history collections on March 7, 2023.[8]
Description
The funky thistle is a hairy perennial herb that grows up to 3 feet (0.91 m) in height. The plant has yellow branches with pale yellow flowers that turn brown with age that grow in fuzzy clusters.[4][6] The leaves are oblong or narrowly elliptic and undulate. The leaves are pinnately divided and are 8–25 centimetres (3.1–9.8 in) in length and 1.5–3.5 centimetres (0.59–1.38 in) in width. The leaves range from smooth to hairy in texture. The seeds are dark brown or grayish brown in color, and are 4–6 millimetres (0.16–0.24 in) in length. It flowers from mid-July until late-August, the plant begins to fruit from mid-August to early September.[6] Jennifer Ackerfield, who described it, said it was the "funkiest of all new thistles".[4]
Ackerfield described the coloration of the style branches, corolla, and the head position (whether erect or nodding), as the best characteristics toward identifying the alpine thistles in the Southern Rocky Mountains.
The large plants serve as food sources for a variety of pollinators in its habitat.
Range
The type specimen was collected at the base of Mount Sherman in Pike National Forest.[6] The funky thistle is found on the mountaintops on the Sangre de Cristo Range, Mosquito Range, and Tenmile Range in central and southern Colorado. Its range extends as far north as Breckenridge, Colorado, and as far south as Santa Fe, New Mexico, where it exists as an isolated population.[6][3]
Habitat
The plant grows in higher elevations above the tree line.
Conservation
The funky thistle is safe from some threats due a combination of its alpine distribution which make access difficult and its location primarily in US federally owned land.[6] The populations are currently thought to be stable. The thistle can be threatened by members of the public who assume the thistle is an invasive species and thus uproot and leave it on the side of hiking trails.[6]
Etymology
The specific epithet honors Vicki Funk, who passed away in 2019 just before the study was completed, and was Jennifer Ackerfield's mentor.[3] The name was chosen because of her work in the field of Compositae research at the Smithsonian Institution and to highlight her position of leadership in the study.[6] Funk was known for having a funky personality,[3] and Ackerfield remarked that Funk would have a special tune that she would sing when she was pricked by a thistle she was collecting, "Ooh Eeh Ooh Ah Aah Ting Tang Walla Walla Bing Bang" (Ross Bagdasarian's "Witch Doctor"), and that she wanted to honor the "funkiest of all thistles".[4][9][3] Ackerfield described the plant's dense mass of noddy wooly heads as "funky indeed".[6][4]
References
- CBS Denver. Archivedfrom the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
- ^ a b Bird, Erin. "FUNKY THISTLE IS FIRST NEW SPECIES OF 2022". Denver Botanic Gardens. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Gilbert, David (15 February 2022). "Researchers have found a new plant in Colorado's high country: the "funky thistle"". The Colorado Sun. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Cutler, Alison (16 February 2022). "Plant? Alien? A newly identified thistle is 'funkiest of all,' Colorado botanist says". Idaho Statesman. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
- ^ Nistel, Kelsey (17 February 2022). "New Plant Species Identified in Colorado's Rocky Mountains". Townsquare Fort Collins. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
- ^ (PDF) from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
- ^ "Cirsium funkiae holotyope". SEINet. Symbiota. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
- ^ "100,000th Accession". Instagram. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
- ^ a b Hampton, Daniel (18 February 2022). "Hiding In Plain Sight: 'Funky' Thistle Species Found In Colorado". Denver, CO Patch. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
- ^ "Consortium of Intermountain Herbaria Detailed Collection Record Information". Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.