Carduus pycnocephalus
| Carduus pycnocephalus | |
|---|---|
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| Carduus pycnocephalus flowers (Italy). | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Tribe: | Cynareae |
| Genus: | Carduus |
| Species: | Carduus pycnocephalus |
| Binomial name | |
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Carduus pycnocephalus L. |
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Carduus pycnocephalus, with common names including Italian thistle, Italian plumeless thistle, and Plymouth thistle, is a species of thistle. It is native to: the Mediterranean region in southern Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia; East Europe and the Caucasus; and the Indian Subcontinent.
The plant has become an introduced species in other regions, and on other continents, often becoming a noxious weed or invasive species.
A winter annual, Carduus pycnocephalus stems range from 8 inches (20 cm) to 6.6 feet (2.0 m), and are glabrous to slightly wooly. The multiple stems are winged with spines.
The plant grows in a rosettes of 10–14 inches (25–36 cm) in diameter, with four to ten lobed basal leaves that are 4–6 inches (10–15 cm) long. Cauline leaves are tomentose on the underside and contain spines on the lobe tips.
Flower heads are 2-5 per cluster, densely matted with cobwebby hairs at the base of the phyllaries and spiny towards the tips. Corollas are pink to purple, approx. .4-.6 in (1-1.4 cm) long, and the fruits are brown to gold, with a bristly, minutely barbed pappus.
Carduus pycnocephalus has become a noxious weed in Australia, New Zealand, Macaronesia, South Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, South America, Hawaii, and North America, especially in much of California. It is a C-listed weed by the California Department of Agriculture and a Moderate Invasive Plant rating by the California Invasive Plant Council. It favors grasslands, woodlands, and chaparral vegetation types, but is especially prevalent in oak woodlands in and around the Central Valley. It is found in disturbed areas, often with basaltic soils, fertile soils, or soils with a relatively high pH (> 6.5).
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Wikipedia