Urospermum picroides, Tragopogon picroides,
Prickly goldenfleece, Prickly cupped Goat's Beard,
Hebrew: אזנב מצוי, Arabic: عضيض مريرياني, Egypt: سلس "Salis"

Scientific name:		Urospermum picroides (L.) F.W. Schmidt
Synonym name:		Tragopogon picroides L.
Common name		Prickly goldenfleece, Prickly cupped Goat's Beard
Hebrew name:		אזנב מצוי
Arabic name:		عضيض مريرياني
Egypt:		سلس "Salis"
Plant Family:		Compositae (Asteraceae), מורכבים

Life form:		Annual
Leaves:		Alternate, simple, stalked, thin, lanceolate to ovate-oblong, 3-6 inches long, 1/2 to 2 inches wide, often broadest at middle, glabrous or somewhat pubescent; bases narrowed; margins conspicuously toothed; tips pointed; upper leaves gradually reduced.
Flowers:		Yellow
Fruits:		Capsules, stiffly erect, 1/4 to 1/2 inch long; seeds chestnut-brown, lustrous.
Flowering Period:		March, April, May
Habitat:		Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:		Med - Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:		Ephemeral

Derivation of the botanical name: Urospermum, Greek oura, a tail, and sperma, a seed, alluding to the tail-like beak of the seeds. picroides, picro, bitter; resembling Picris, bitter (Theophrastus' name for a bitter potherb). Tragopogon, Greek tragos, goat; and pogon beard, suggested by its prominent, feathery hairs when in seed. The standard author abbreviation F.W. Schmidt is used to indicate Franz Wilibald Schmidt (1764 - 1796), a Czech botanist. The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.