- Cirsium ochrocentrum
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Cirsium ochrocentrum 
Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Eudicots (unranked): Asterids Order: Asterales Family: Asteraceae Tribe: Cynareae Genus: Cirsium Species: C. ochrocentrum Binomial name Cirsium ochrocentrum
A.GrayCirsium ochrocentrum is a species of thistle known by the common name yellowspine thistle. It is native to the central United States, but its distribution is somewhat wider, reaching to California and into Mexico where the plant has been introduced. It is a weed which grows in disturbed areas such as roadsides. This is a perennial herb growing up to a meter tall with one to twenty white woolly stems per plant. The leaves are generally deeply lobed and the lobes cut into sharp teeth. The longest leaves at the base of the plant are up to about 25 centimeters long. The leaves are spiny, with spines up to 1.5 centimeters long. The inflorescence produces several flower heads, each lined with hard, toothed phyllaries tipped with spines. The head contains white, pink, or lavender flowers. The fruit is an achene with a brown body nearly a centimeter long topped with a pappus which may be 3 centimeters long.
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