SPECIES DESCRIPTION
CARTHAMUS LEUCOCAULOS
Family and Genus:- See- COMPOSITAE
Common Names:- None
Homotypic Synonyms:- None
Meaning:- Carthamus. From Hebrew for painted one.
Leucocaulos (Gr) White stemmed, with a white stem.
General description:- Thistle-like, usually almost hairless annual, rarely with a
web-like covering of hairs or scales, sometimes sparsely glandular.
Stems:-
1) Erect, rather rigid.15-40 cm tall.whitish or pale purple, glabrescent, without
spots, usually simple below and branched above into a fairly dense corymb.
Leaves:-
1) Cauline, sessile, rigid and shiny, with 2-4 pairs of narrowly triangular, subentire
lobes produced into strong spines.
Flowers:-
1) Capitula, 10-13 mm diam.
2) Incolucre, narrowly ovoid, rather small, c.10 mm in diam.
3) Phyllaries:
a) outer, at least twice as long as the inner.
b) middle, ovate-lanceolate, entire, without an appendage.
4) Florets, pale rose-pink to purplish.
4) Corolla, white to pale-violet.
a) lobes, 3-3.5 mm.
Fruit:-
1) Achenes, whitish.
2) Pappus, of narrow, parallel-sided, usually truncate scales 5-7 mm.
Key features:-
1) Inner involucral bracts, oblong-lanceolate, entire, without apical appendages.
2) Plant, usually subglabrous.
3) Stems, white to purple, without spots.
4) Cauline, leaves pinnatisect to pinnate, with spinose segments, shiny.
5) Pappus-scales, usually truncate.
Habitat:- Open dry shrubby vegetation. Juniperus phoenicea scrub, fallow fields,
open coniferous woodland, dry stony grassland. 0-700(-1200) m
Distribution:- Endemic Crete, S Greece & Aegean. Limited distribution on Crete.
Flowering time:- May-July.
Photos by:- Steve Lenton
