Asteraceae
Pallenis

Pallenis spinosa (L.) Cass.

First published in G.-F.Cuvier, Dict. Sci. Nat., ed. 2. 37: 276 (1825)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Canary Islands, Medit. to Iran. It is an annual and grows primarily in the subtropical biome.

Descriptions

Ghazanfar, S. A., Edmondson, J. R. & Hind, D. J. N. (Eds). (2019). Flora of Iraq, Volume 6: Compositae.Kew Publishing

Morphology General Habit
Erect annual herb to 72 cm tall, long-hairy
Morphology Stem
Stems rigid, simple or branched, either from base or only in upper half, leafy throughout
Morphology Leaves
Leaves 3–7 × 0.8–2 cm, basal oblanceolate, attenuate, subpetiolate, entire or often shallowly, irregularly serrate, especially in lower half, withering early; cauline leaves entire or with marginal callouses, semi-amplexicaul, auricled; all leaves spine-tipped
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Capitulum
Capitula, excluding outermost bracts, 2–2.5 cm diam.; phyllaries 2–3-seriate, outermost spreading, up to 4.2 × 9 mm, with conspicuous veins, forming a star around capitulum, abruptly contracted near base into a short stalk, spine-tipped, inner phyllaries stiff, ± erect, oblong-lanceolate, 9 × 2–3 mm, cuspidate; receptacular scales oblong or oblanceolate, ± keeled, 5 × 1 mm, acute, cuspidate, ciliate at apex
Ray
Ray florets 6–7 × 0.5–1 mm, rays narrow, oblong with expanded, winged, ciliate tube, 3 apical teeth, 3 veins, yellow; disc florets 4 × <1 mm, cylindrical, somewhat thickened at base glabrous; anthers 2 mm, cylindrical, appendages lanceolate, base sagittate, caudate, tails divergent; style bifid, arms compressed, rounded at apex
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Achenes of ray-florets oblong-obovate in outline, 2.4 × 2 mm, those of disc florets turbinate, 1.5 × 1 mm; pappus scales ± lanceolate, 0.5 mm.
Ecology
On a mountainside, waste land near a village; alt. 300–600 m;
Phenology
flowering & fruiting: Jun.-Jul.
Distribution
Apparently rare in Iraq; only found a few times in the NW sector of the lower margin of the forest zone and upper plains. S Europe (Portugal & Spain to Italy, the Balkans, Greece, Crete, Crimea), Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Transcaucasia, Turkmenia, N Africa (Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco), Macaronesia (Canary Is.).
[FIQ]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of Iraq

    • Ghazanfar, S. A., Edmondson, J. R. (Eds). (2013-2019). Flora of Iraq, Volumes 5.1, 5.2 and 6.0. Kew Publishing
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images