Gundelia tournefortii
Gundelia tournefortii
Kenger
Plant 20-100 cm. Stems erect, branched, often shining, glabrous or sparsely arachnoid. Leaves rigid, glabrous or arachnoid, with prominent nerves, lanceolate in outline, sessile or base decurrent into spiny stem-wings, pinnatifid to sub-2- pinnatisect, with spiny-dentate margins; lower leaves 7-30x4,5-16 cm, those above decreasing in size. Heads solitary, 2-5 x 2-4 cm excl. bracts. Bracts spiny-margined, ovate-acuminate and scarcely exceeding capitula or apex prolonged into a hard subterete or flattened spine up to 7 cm. Capitulum 7-17 mm long, incl. exserted corollas. Flowers c. 4-8. Capitula at time of dispersal obovoid to tetragonal, 10-16 x 5-9 mm. Fertile achene smooth, ovoid. Fl. 5-6. Rocky limestone & igneous slopes, steppe, nr salt lakes, open woodland, fallow fields, 100- 2500 m.
1. Bracts greatly exceeding flowers, with apex'prolonged into 2,5-7 cm spine; leaves pinnatifid .........................................var. armata
1. Bracts not or only slightly exceeding flowers, apical spine less than 1·5 cm
2. Leaves sub-2-pinnatisect, divided almost to rachis; primary segments narrowly triangular, finely spiny ................var. tenuisecta
2. Leaves pinnatifid; segments broadly triangular, coarsely spiny .................var. tournefortii
External distribution of species: Transcaucasia, Cyprus, W. Syria, Syrian Desert, N. Iraq, Iran Transcaspia. Ir.-Tur. element
