Pitcher’s thistle (Cirsium pitcheri) is a monocarpic perennial plant found on the open sand dunes of Lake Michigan, Lake Huron and Lake Superior, that grows vegetatively for four to eight years, flowering and setting seeds only once in its lifetime. My research project will investigate the effect of temperature on the germination of C. pitcheri with the objective of understanding and minimizing the species’ mortality at its early life stages and answering the question - how will climate change impact C. pitcheri populations?