Onopordum tauricum Willd. Bull Cottonthistle

Onopordum tauricum Willd. - Bull Cottonthistle

Scientific Description:

Biennial, 60−100 cm, sparsely puberulous-viscid with short glandular hairs, green. Stem branched above into compound corymbs with 2−6 capitula, leafy and winged throughout; wings 2−4, spinose and sinuate; spines 3−15 mm at tips of prominently nerved triangular lobes. Leaves oblong-lanceolate becoming linear upwards, pinnatilobed, lobes irregularly arranged, triangular, with prominent nerve ending in 3−6(−15) mm spines; uppermost leaves sometimes entire. Capitula borne on winged leafy stems. Involucre globose, 3−4 × 2−5 cm, with flat to concave base; phyllaries lanceolate, (20−)30−40 mm (incl. spine), gradually attenuate from (2−)3−4(−5) mm broad base to 3−4 mm yellow spine, glandular-scabrous to somewhat arachnoid; outer and median phyllaries slightly patent to reflexed. Flowers as long as or longer than inner phyllaries. Pappus hairs scabrous or barbellate, lateral projections 0.5−1 × as long as rachis width.

 

Flowering time: June−July.

Habitat: Steppe, open scrub and fallow fields, 250−1400 m.

 

Reference:
Danin A (1975). Onopordum tauricum Willd., In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 5: 366.

Public Description:

Onopordum tauricum, known as “taurian thistle” or “bull cottonthistle”, is native to the Balkans, Romania, Crimea, Türkiye and Cyprus. It is a biennial plant with pinkish-purple flowers, and grows up to 100 cm in length. It blooms between June and July and is found in steppe, open scrub and fallow fields.

 

References:

Anonymous (2016). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onopordum_tauricum/, Accessed date: 21.01.2016.

Özebek U M (2012). Onopordum 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. 184–185.