Cirsium pauciflorum(Waldst. & Kit.) Sprengel non Lam.
Cnicus pauciflorusWaldst. & Kit.
Cirsium waldsteinii, the Waldstein's thistle or East Carpathian thistle, is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Asteraceae.[3] It is closely related to C. greimleri, which was recently split from it. It is a tall herbaceous plant with nodding purple flowers growing in high montane to subalpine habitats on exposed acidic slopes. It is native to Eastern Europe, and specifically the Carpathians.[3] As a tetraploid species, it does not hybridise readily.
Plants grow to a height of 50-150[-200] cm.[6] Stems are simple or have few branches.[6] Up to 6 pedicels.[8] Growth is erect but nodding below the capitula.[6] Leaves grow all along the stem.[6]
Flowers are capitula, each with 3-8 flowers.[9][6] Involucre[a] dimensions are [15-]17-23 × 15-22 mm at flowering.[6] Individual bracts bracts flare out from the bud, with distinct vittae, the outer and inner bracts being distinguished by the presence and absence, respectively, of a visible spine.[6] Involucres are greenish purple to brownish purple.[1]
Corolla length is [14.5-]15.3-21.9[-23.1] mm.[1] At full anthesis, corollae average greyish violet, but can be purple to greyish violet or darker (the latter overlapping with C. greimleri). During fading, corollae average deep magenta or greyish violet, but can also be lighter to darker shades of greyish magenta.[1] All colour values are given in the Methuen system.[10]
Strongly anemochorous, its fruits contain [3.8-]4.2-5.3[-5.8] cm. achenes attached to [14.0-]14.3-19.8[-20.4] mm pappi.[6][1]
Micromorphology
Stomatal guard cells are [16.6-]20.9[-27.9] μm long and [5.0-]8.9[-15.3]μm wide.[1]
Lookalikes
No close lookalikes are coterminous, but a number of species can be difficult to distinguish from it:
Cirsium greimleri is genetically close and almost identical in appearance. In the field, the main distinguishing traits are lobe depth and flower colour. Although their basal leaves are roughly equal in width, the cauline leaves of C. waldsteinii are significantly wider, though the significantly deeper lobes of the latter may create the appearance of narrowness. The corollae of C. waldsteinii are lighter in colour at any given stage, with little overlap in hue after opening (though both can be greyish violet at full bloom). This comparison must be made between flowers of roughly equal stage. Its stems below the capitula are completely covered, whereas those of C. waldsteinii show some green.[1]
Cirsium hypoleucum. The leaves of C. hypoleucum, sometimes resembling C. greimleri more than C. waldsteinii,[1] are white-tomentose beneath, in contrast to the greyish-arachnoid leaves of C. waldsteinii. The involucral bracts of C. waldsteinii gradually become longer inward. The involucres of C. hypoleucum differ markedly in colour from those of C. waldsteinii,[11] and the involucres themselves are narrower. The idumentum of subcapitular stem is sparser.[1]
The smaller size of female achenes relative to hermaphrodite achenes in this species is unusual.[1] Usually the reverse is the case, which has been explained as a compensation for the genetic disadvantage of females relative to hermaphrodites, and as a result of the absence of inbreeding depression.[14][15] Suggested explanations for the aberrance in C. greimleri and C. waldsteinii include larger achene count, higher germanation rates, and lower infestation with achene predators like the Tephritidae and Curculionidae.[1]
Hybridisation
C. waldsteinii is a tetraploid species with sporophytic chromosome number 2n=4x=68,[16] without variation.[1] Its somatic nuclear DNA size is [3534-]3682[-3932] Mbp.[1]
As a tetraploid in a diploid dominated genus, it does not hybridise readily, similar to C. vulgare. But it has not achieved full reproductive isolation.[1]
Prefers damp and shady places. It is a calcifuge species.[6]
Grows on forest meadows, clearings, and edges.[19] But also above the treeline, among scrubs and on talus.[12]
Taxonomy
Internally, C. waldsteinii populations are less genetically distinct from one another than C. greimleri populations, whose intrapopulation diversity however is lower than C. greimleri.[1]: 110 The low interpopulation diversity could have more to do with interspecific hybridisation, but it could also be solely the result of two effects of tetraploidy: one which slows genetic drift, and another which homogenises migrating populations more effectively such as during recolonisation following the Last Glacial Period. The high intrapopulation diversity of C. waldsteinii could be thanks to differences in the severity of glaciation between the Alps and the Carpathians.[1]: 128
Externally, C. waldsteinii was grouped with C. eristhales over C. greimleri in a 2023 paper, but the phylogeny was based on genome size, GC content, achene length, and guard cell length, rather than genetics.[20]
Willdenow, Carl Ludwig (1803). "Cnicus pauciflorus". Caroli a Linné species plantarum exhibentes plantas rite cognitas, ad genera relatas, cum differentiis specificis, nominibus trivialibus, synonymis selectis, locis natalibus secundum systema sexuale digestas. Vol. 3, 3 (5th ed.). p. 1677.
Kitaibel, Pál; von Waldstein, Franz de Paula Adam Norbert Wenzel Ludwig Valentin (1803). "Cnicus pauciflorus". Descriptiones et icones plantarum rariorum Hungariae. Vol. 2. pp. 175–176.
Mirek, Zbigniew; Piękoś-Mirkowa, Halina; Zając, Adam; Zając, Maria (2020). Rośliny naczyniowe Polski: Adnotowany wykaz gatunków [Vascular plants of Poland: An annotated checklist]. ISBN978-83-62975-45-7.
Mirek, Zbigniew; Piękoś-Mirkowa, Halina; Zając, Adam; Zając, Maria (2002). Flowering plants and pteridophytes of Poland: A checklist. Biodiversity of Poland. Vol. 1. ISBN83-85444-83-1.
Лукьяновна Харадзе, Анна (2001) [originally published 1963 in Russian]. "Cirsium". Flora Unionis Rerumpublicarum Socialisticarum Sovieticarum. Vol. 28. Translated by Dhote, A. K. pp. 51–213. ISBN9781886106451.
^ abcdKitaibel, Pál; von Waldstein, Franz de Paula Adam Norbert Wenzel Ludwig Valentin (1803). "Cnicus pauciflorus". Descriptiones et icones plantarum rariorum Hungariae. Vol. 2. pp. 175–176.
^ abWilldenow, Carl Ludwig (1803). "Cnicus pauciflorus". Caroli a Linné species plantarum exhibentes plantas rite cognitas, ad genera relatas, cum differentiis specificis, nominibus trivialibus, synonymis selectis, locis natalibus secundum systema sexuale digestas. Vol. 3, 3 (5th ed.). p. 1677.
^Kornerup, Ann-Mari; Wanscher, J. H. (1989). Methuen Handbook of Colour. ISBN0413334007.
^ abcЛукьяновна Харадзе, Анна (2001) [originally published 1963 in Russian]. "Cirsium". Flora Unionis Rerumpublicarum Socialisticarum Sovieticarum. Vol. 28. Translated by Dhote, A. K. pp. 51–213. ISBN9781886106451.
Г. Пашук, Х. (1987). "Хромосомные числа видов растений Черногоры" [Chromosome numbers in species of subalpine belt of Chernogora (Ukrainian Carpathians)]. Ботанический журнал. 72 (8): 1069–1074. ISSN0006-8136.
Frey, Ludwik; Mizianty, Marta (1973). "Chromosome number of some vascular plants in the Western Bieszczady Mts (South-eastern Poland)". Fragmenta Floristica et Geobotanica Polonica. 19: 265–270. ISSN1640-629X.
