Carduus pycnocephalus L.

Annual or sometimes biennial cobwebby to glabrescent herb ; up to 40(–80) cm high . Stems erect , usually branched from base , spiny-winged . Leaves spathulate to lanceolate , up to ± 15 x 6 cm , pinnately lobed , with spinose margins ; basal leaves rosulate ; stem leaves long-decurrent , becoming smaller higher up . Inflorescences usually clustered by 2–5 at the end of the stems , subsessile . Flowers all tubular , pink to purple , strongly exceeding the involucre . Fruit achenes , 3–4 mm long , 1 . 5 mm in diameter , compressed , glabrous . Seeds pappus , a few times longer than the achenes , of numerous greyish-brown scabrid bristles connate at base and caducous as a whole . (Ref . Flora of Oman ; vol . 3) .

No Data

Not Evaluated (NE)

Not Common

Carduus tenuiflorus var. pycnocephalus (L.) DC.
Carduus tenuiflorus subsp. pycnocephalus (L.) Bonnier & Layens