SCOLYMUS L.OYSTER THISTLE FLEABANE

SCOLYMUS L. - OYSTER THISTLE FLEABANE

Scientific Description:

Spiny annual, biennial or perennial herbs. Stems with spiny wings. Leaves rigid, pinnatifid, spiny-dentate. Capitula homogamous, ligulate, sessile, axillary. Involucre overtopped by spiny involucrate leaves; phyllaries pluriseriate, imbricate. Receptacle conical or elongate, paleaceous; paleae ovate, enclosing achenes. Flowers yellow. Achenes dorsally compressed. Pappus absent or with a few stiff bristles. Resembling some Cardueae (e.g. Carthamus L.) in the spiny habit.

Reference:
Matthews VA (1975). Scolymus L., In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 5: 624.

Public Description:

Scolymus is a genus of annual, biennial or perennial spiny herbs known as “golden thistle” or “oyster thistle fleabane” is distributed in Macaronesia (a phytogeographical region comprising the Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, and Cape Verde Islands in the eastern North Atlantic), Mediterranean region and the Middle East. There are 4 species in the world and 3 species (4 taxa) in Türkiye. They have yellow flowers, and spiny leaves and stems. The most well known species, common golden thistle (Scolymus hispanicus L.), is a very popular plant in many countries and used in meals and salad. Türkiye's first patented herbal medicine, “lityazol cemil”, was derived from the root of this plant by Dr. Cemil Şener in 1934. This herbal medicine was used especially in the treatment of kidney stones.

References:

Anonymous 1 (2016). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scolymus /, Accessed date: 22.01.2016.

Anonymous 2 (2016). http://www.theplantlist.org/1.1/browse/A/Compositae/Scolymus//, Accessed date: 22.01.2016.

Anonymous 3 (2018). http://www.khcbaser.com/turkish/kisisel/makale/lityazol.htm, Accessed date: 27.02.2018.

Ekim T (2012). Scolymus L. In: Güner, A., Aslan, S., Ekim, T., Vural, M. & Babaç, M.T. (eds.), Türkiye Bitkileri Listesi (Damarlı Bitkiler). Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi ve Flora Araştırmaları Derneği Yayını. İstanbul, pp. 195.