CYNARA CORNIGERA

Family:- COMPOSITAE/Sect. CYNARA

Common Names:- Wild artichoke.

Synonyms:- Cynara humilis, Cynara sibthorpiana.

Meaning:- Cynara (Gr) Dog.

Cornigera (L) Horned, horn-bearing.

General description:- Perennial plants.

Stems:-

1) Up to 30 cm, arachnoid-lanate.

Leaves:-

1) Mostly basal, up to 40 x 16 cm, broadly oblong, pinnatifid, coriaceous, glabrous

and bright green with pale veins above, white-tomentose with prominent

veins beneath, petiolate.

2) Cauline, sessile; segments caudate, with triangular lobes having terminal yellow

spines 2-6 mm.

Flowers:-

1) Whitish yellow, joined together into a capitula of 50 mm in diam., solitary or very

few.

2) Involucre 40-50 mm, subglobose.

3) Outer involucral bracts, with a slender apical spine c. 5 mm.

4) Middle bracts cochleariform appendage 8-10 x 10-15 mm, abruptly narrowed into

an erecto-patent spine 20-50 x 2-4 mm.

Fruit:-

1) Achenes 4-5 x 2·5-3 mm.

2) Pappus 20-25 mm., plumose.

Key features:-

1) Leaves up to 40 x 32 cm, with spines 2-20 mm, not in clusters.

2) Achenes 3-5 x 2-3 mm.

3) Involucre 40-50 mm, subglobose; middle involucral bracts with cochleariform

appendages, abruptly contracted into a spine 20-50 mm.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Rocky slopes with open dry shrubby vegetation. 0-400(800) m. often on

small islands and peninsulas, on limestone or volcanic substrate.

Distribution:- S Greece, Crete, Aegean Is., Cyprus, Libya, Egypt. Limited

distribution on Crete not common, usually near the coast.

Flowering time:- May-June.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton