Gundelia colemerikensis

Kengir zer

Perennial lactiferous herb with branched stem 50‒80 cm. Leaves coriaceous, alternate, pinnatilobate or pinnatisect, spiny. Both side glabrous or with few short or arachnoid hairs, especially on or besides the veins. Synflorescences normally 15–50, globose or ovoid, 40‒70 mm long and 30‒40 mm in diameter , consisting of  20–80 cephaloids. Synflorescence glabrous. Bracts spiny, more or less exceeding cephaloids, with a terminal spine and 2 long lateral spines, with additional smaller spines in between, in aberrant forms bracts up to 20 mm long, and to 13 mm broad. Bracts densely covered by tomentose and arachnoid hairs, thus forming a whitish ring around the cephaloid. Cephaloid  compound of 5‒6 flowers. Flowers campanulate to widely spreading, corolla externally dark purple, maroonish or deep reddish , internally reddish-maroon or pinkish-maroon, 8‒11 mm long flowers closed at ± noon, opening in ± late afternoon. Synflorescence ± squamulose. Fruit complex normally obconical, greyish-green, 5–9 mm long , in upper part 4‒8 mm in diameter ; central and lateral flowers surrounded by spines originated from the involucels, spines of the central flowers 2–4 mm, of the lateral flowers 1–2 mm, obtained from 25 fruit of avarege weight 0.112 g . Phenology:— Flowering from June to July and fruiting from July to August.

Endemic