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Cousinia thomsonii.
Spotted in large numbers on way to Spiti valley.
Validate please

Thanks … for upload


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Fwd: Cousinia thomsonii : 1 post by 1 author. Attachments (4)
Adding some images scanned in from slides taken in the 1980s (incl. one of mine) from Ladakh & Lahoul.
Whilst not close-ups, they show something of the distinctive foliage (and my shot, of the habitat).
Always important to photograph the leaves as well as flowers (more specifically flower-heads in the case of members of the Asteraceae family).
PLEASE, given that it now costs nothing to take lots of photos with digital cameras, take AT LEAST 6, if not 15-20 images of ALL species encountered (follow instructions I have given for photographing plants in other posts). Then select the best ones to post on eFI in future years.   Such action will greatly help with the identification process and provide a reference resource for those attempting to reliably identify plants in the future.
Cousinia thomsonii was found by members of the University of Southampton Expedition to Zanskar in 1981 at Skagam, 3500m, frequent in moist soil at the edge of fields.
According to Koelz the stems are eaten raw in Lahoul and the leaves as tinder in the flint & steep pouches (Sazk) which were indispensable to herdsmen and travellers in the past.  The tinder is also supplied by other plants with suitably hairy leaves such as Gnaphalium, Saussurea and Erigerons.
Flowers of Himalaya found this to be a common thistle on stony ground in Ladakh & Lahoul @ 3000-4200m from Afghanistan to W.Nepal and Tibet.
Stewart recorded it from N.Pakistan to Ladakh at 2700-4500m.  Stewart listed 26 species of Cousinia from Pakistan.
At the time of completion of his Annotated Catalogue, Rechinger of Vienna, who did a great deal of work on this genus, which is apparently the second largest in Afghanistan with more than 100 species, had borrowed pressed specimens from Kew and Gordon College, Rawalpindi, so he expected some of the names and determinations in his list would be changed and new ones added once the next paper on the subject was published but aged 82, Stewart, reasonably enough could not wait (even though he lived to be 102).
Thankfully, C.thomsonii is the only species of the genus known from the Trans-Himalayan districts of India.
Flora of Lahaul-Spiti found it common on dry slopes and waste places at Lossar.

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Ladakh, August 2022 :: Cousinia thomsonii for validation :: ARK2022-135: 3 high res. images.

This was at Namika la (a pass on the Srinagar Kargil route) at 3700 mt. ASL in August 2022.
Cousinia thomsonii
I arrived at the ID based on FoI and eFI pics. Requested to please validate


Yes … Nice pics !


Great collection again.

I also agree with id as per images at Cousinia thomsonii C.B.Clarke


Yes Cousinia thomsoni, Excellent images


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