Cardo

Description:

White-downy, short to tall annual, to 1m, though often less. Leaves:- Alternate, oblong, composed of more than three leaflets arranged in two rows along the leaf stalk, with spiny lobes or teeth, with white veins or marks above, white with down beneath. Flowers:- Flower-heads purple to lilac, occasionally white, 15-20mm, solitary or in branched clusters; outer florets larger than the inner and spreading; flower-bracts narrowed suddenly into a spine, white-downy.

Habitat:

Dry habitats, stony and sandy ground, fallow and waste places.

Notes:

Leaves:- Alternate, oblong, composed of more than three leaflets arranged in two rows along the leaf stalk, with spiny lobes or teeth, with white veins or marks above, white with down beneath. Flowers:- Flower-heads purple to lilac, occasionally white, 15-20mm, solitary or in branched clusters; outer florets larger than the inner and spreading; flower-bracts narrowed suddenly into a spine, white-downy.