Cirsium lecontei, often called the Le Conte's thistle, is a North American plant species native to the southeastern United States.

Leaves have blades that are linear to oblong or narrowly elliptic, loosely arachnoid when young, abaxial and adaxial faces glabrous (smooth), and lobes undivided or coarsely few toothed.

[6] The probable cause decreasing presence of these species are conversion of habitat to pine plantation which may include site prep activities (such as bedding and herbicides),inappropriate fire timing, and commercial and residential development.

[5] R.J. Moore and C. Frankton (1969) suggested that the species may have originated as a product of ancient hybridization between the ancestors of C. horridulum and C. nuttallii.

They also suggested a relationship between C. lecontei and C. grahamii of Arizona and hypothesized an ancient dispersal from the southeastern coastal plain to western cordillera.