Cirsium funkiae
Cirsium funkiae, the Funky thistle or Funk's thistle, is a species of thistle found in the United States. It was first described by Jennifer Ackerfield in 2022. The funky thistle's common name refers to the "funky" appearance of the plant, with a noddy 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", because of 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 Denver Botanic Gardens. Ackerfield was cautious not to use the term discovered", cautious that it was possible that local Indigenous peoples had already discerned the species prior to her description. Ackerfield had began studying the thistles in 2016 as a part of her PhD. studies. Governor of Colorado Jared Polis would later highlight the thistle's discovery on his Twitter. The funky thistle was the first described living organism in the year of 2022 found in the Rocky Mountain Region. It was formerly thought of, for over  150 years, as the same as the species "Cirsium scopulorum", the mountain thistle. Specimens of both the funky and mountain thistle would be labeled under the same designation until it was separated. Through molecular, geographic, and morphological analysis, it was deemed that the mountaintop thistle "Cirsium eatonii" was polyphyletic and therefore should be split. The species complex that was "Cirsium eatonii" would be split several ways in 2020, re-instating former genera "C. clokeyi", "C. murdockii", "C. peckii", and "C. tweedyi", as well as creating the genera "C. harrisonii" and "C. viperinum". In addition, " C. eatonii var. eriocephalum" was additionally  polyphyletic, and renamed "Cirsium scopulorum". The original description for "scopulorum" described a "yellow corolla", but was in the geographic region of the pale purple variety. Additional notes stated that the flowers were possibly too young and thus unable to tell the color of the corolla in the first place. The pale purple variety thus received the designation of "scopulorum", leaving the yellow variety undescribed. Five species were separated from the former "C. scopulorum" complex. "Cirsium culebraensis", "C. funkiae", "C. griseum", "C. hesperium", and "C. scopulorum". Two of which were new to science, "C. funkiae" and "C. culebraensis". Discoveries of plants  such as "C. funkiae" can help researchers determine climate change induced affects on species distribution and interaction. Description. The funky thistle is a hairy perennial herb that grows up to in height. The plant has yellow branches with pale yellow flowers that turn brown with age that grow in fuzzy clusters. The leaves are oblong or narrowly elliptic and undulate. The leaves are pinnately divided and are in length and in width. The leaves range from smooth to hairy in texture. The seeds are dark brown or grayish brown in color, and are in length. It flowers from mid-July  until late-August, the plant begins to fruit from mid-August to early September. Jennifer Ackerfield, who described it, said it was the "funkiest of all new thistles". 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 style branches are yellow in color. The corolla is pale yellow in color, turning brown as it ages. The anther tube is white in color, alternatively pale yellow with brown stripes. The flower head grows in a nodding, terminal cluster . The thistle differs from the similar "Cirsium scopulorum" in its style branches being yellow rather than white, pale pink, or purple, but similar due to their nodding terminal arrangement of the heads. The large plants serve as food sources for a variety of pollinators in its habitat. The plant is visited by bumblebees ("Bombus" sp.), who often overnight in the fuzzy flowerheads to stay warm. The leaves are often foraged by the American pika ("Ochotona princeps") during the months of August and September. Range. The type specimen was collected at the base of Mount Sherman in Pike National Forest. 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. Habitat. The plant grows in higher elevations above the tree line. It occurs in high-elevation spruce and fir forests and alpine tundra. Primarily found growing in alpine meadows, boulder fields, or rocky scree slopes. In lower elevations, it grows in association with "Bistorta bistortoides", "Picea engelmannii", "Potentilla pulcherrima", and "Sibbaldia procumbens . In rocky slopes and meadows, it grows in association with: Cirsium griseum", "Carex scopulorum", "Castilleja miniata", "Castilleja occidentalis", "Claytonia megarhiza", "Geum rossii", "Senecio atratus", "Senecio fremontii", "Polemonium confertum", and "Trifolium dasyphyllum". In its highest elevated points in its distribution on scree slopes, it is often the only species of plant found, or it can be found in association with "Senecio soldanella". One specimen that was collected was growing in a rocky tundra environment alongside "Cerastium beeringianum", "Heuchera parviflora", "Pentaphylloides floribunda", and "Trifolium dasyphyllum". Conservation. The funky thistle is safe from many threats due a combination of its its alpine distribution  which make accessing the thistle difficult, as well as its distribution in primarily federally owned land. 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 the plant and leave it on the side of hiking trails to prevent its spread. Etymology. The specific epithet honors Vicki Funk, who had passed away in 2019 and just before the study was completed, and was Jennifer Ackerfield's mentor. The name was chosen to honor her work in the field of Compositae research  at the Smithsonian Institution and to highlight her position of leadership and as a world leader in the study. Funk was known for having a funky personality, and Ackerfield remarked that Funk would have a special tune that she would sing when 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" in her honor. Ackerfield described the plant's dense mass of noddy wooly heads as "funky indeed".