New York Flora Association Blog

Until now, the Carline thistle (Carlina vulgaris) has only been recorded for Cortland and Tompkins County, New York (see NYFA Atlas). Recently it was seen naturalized in fields in Otsego County by NYFA board member and botanist Connie Tedesco. The USDA Plants database only has it occurring in New York and New Jersey.  It is a Eurasian species that was introduced in the mid-1900s to New York.

The information at the NY state museum for this species shows it was collected for the first time in Cortland County in August, 1948 by R.T. Clausen “SE of Dryden Lake, Harford.” It was seen again south of Harford Mills in Cortland County by Stanley Smith Sept. 17, 1955. This is on the border of Tioga County. Arthur Cronquist reported it to the museum as common and spreading in Ithaca in 1983.

Is this a new invasive species on the move? If you see this plant naturalizing in your area please leave a comment at this blog entry.  Thanks. – Steve Young

Plants from an Otsego County field. Photos Connie Tedesco.

This entry was posted on September 6, 2012 at 3:53 pm and is filed under Invasive Species, Plant Identification, Plant Sightings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.