Friday, March 26, 2010

SAND DUNE PLANTS..SURF THISTLE

Surf Thistle (Cirsium rhothophilum)

Status: California Threatened
Surf thistle often occurs in the same areas as beach spectacle-pod on the former Guadalupe Oil Field. Approximately 5,000 plants were observed in the 2000 survey.

Characteristics:
Surf thistle is a bushy, short-lived perennial plant that grows to a height of 1.5-2.5 feet. This member of the sunflower family is characterized by large rosettes of spiny, white-woolly, deeply lobed and undulating leaves, with whitish flowers that occur in dense heads.

Habitat:
Surf thistle grows in coastal foredunes, often on the slopes of transverse dunes at elevations between 10 and 200 feet. Surf thistle does not occur on beaches or further back in the stabilized dunes

Still missing the ocean and beach.....:)

WATERCOLOR & INK

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