SPECIES DESCRIPTION
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