Carduus australis, Carduus arabicus, Carduus pycnocephala,
Italian thistle,
Hebrew: קרדה דרומית, Arabic: لسان غليظ الرأس

Scientific name:  Carduus australis L.
Synonym name:  Carduus arabicus Jacq., Carduus pycnocephala L.
Common name:   Italian thistle
Hebrew name:  קרדה דרומית
Arabic name:  لسان غليظ الرأس
Plant Family:  Compositae / Asteraceae, מורכבים

Flora, Israel, Blomster, villblomster, Planter, Opprinnelig Blomster
Location: Dudaim Forest, Goral Hills

Life form:  Therophyte, annual
Spinescence:  Leaves, bracts
Stems:  20-200 cm, erect, branched particularly in upper half, grooved, winged except immediately below the flower heads, slightly downy or cobwebby
Leaves:  Alternate, rosette, entire, dentate or serrate, spinescent
Flowers:   Pink, purple, fragrant florets, formed in large solitary drooping heads at the ends of branches; heads often covered with cobwebby down
Fruits / pods:  Cypselae ovoid, grey to yellowish brown, pappus of fine, toothed bristles 15-25 mm long
Flowering Period:  March, April, May
Habitat:  Shrub-steppes, Desert
Distribution:  Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts
Chorotype:  Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:  Ephemeral

פרחים וצמחי בר בארץ ישראל
Location: Dudaim Forest, Goral Hills


Derivation of the botanical name:
Carduus, thistle, the classical Latin name.
australis, south, southern.
arabicus, "Arabian".
pycnocephala, Greek, pycnos, πυκνοϛ, close, dense, compact; -cephalus, headed; densely headed.
The Hebrw name: קרדה, carda, from the scientific name.
  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
  • The standard author abbreviation Jacq. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.