Cnicus benedictus, L.

Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A., 1976, Flora Europaea. Volume 4. Plantaginaceae to Compositae (and Rubiaceae), Cambridge University Press : 301

1. C. benedictus L. , Sp. Pl. 826 (1753).

Stem 10-60 cm, arachnoid-villous. Leaves oblong in outline, light green with prominent white veins beneath; basal up to 30 x 8 cm, runcinate to pinnatifid, petiolate; cauline smaller, usually sinuate in the wide proximal half, sessile, semiamplexicaul, the uppermost ovate-lanceolate, spine-tipped. Capitula 25-40x20-30 mm; involucral bracts brown. Achenes 6-8 x 2-2-5 mm, brown; pappus yellow. 2« = 22. Cultivated fields and waste places. Mediterranean region, Portugal', cultivated as a medicinal herb elsewhere, and locally naturalized in C. & S.E. Europe. Al Bu Cr Ga Gr Hs It Ju Lu Sa Tu [Cz Rm Rs (W)].