Asteraceae
Carthamus

Carthamus oxyacanthus M.Bieb.

First published in Tabl. Prov. Mer Casp.: 118 (1798)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Caucasus to Central Asia and India, Arabian Peninsula. It is an annual and grows primarily in the temperate biome.

Descriptions

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]

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

Morphology General Habit
Annual herb 20–50(–70) cm tall
Morphology Stem
Stems whitish, usually considerably divaricately corymbose-branched from middle or below, glabrous or sparsely glandular below, increasingly glandular and often arachnoid above
Morphology Leaves
Upper cauline and branch leaves oblong or lanceolate-oblong, sessile, ± amplexicaul, very variable in size, with mostly 6–9 pairs of teeth terminating in long, yellow (rarely reddish) spines up to 10 mm Basal and lower stem leaves to 23 × 6 cm, irregularly narrowly pinnatisect with 4–5 pairs of spinose lobes or lowest almost unarmed, all narrowed and subpetiolate with a short expanded basal sheath
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Involucre
Involucre ovoid, densely shortly glandular and often ± arachnoid; outer phyllaries foliaceous, patent, 15–50 × 4–14 mm, margins and tip with long, yellow spines, exceeding florets; innermost phyllaries lanceolate, tip feebly spinose but otherwise unarmed, strongly ribbed; intermediate phyllaries with gradually reducing foliose appendages, then entire and quickly narrowed
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corollas bright yellow
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Achenes obovoid, only bluntly quadrangular, 4–6 × 2–4 mm, shining, white to chestnut; pappus usually absent, rarely very short.
Ecology
Stony hillsides, by streams in the hills, on limestone slopes and silty plain, also as a weed of (especially irrigated) cultivation, on clay, sandy clay and conglomerate; alt. 30–920 m;
Phenology
flowering & fruiting: May- Oct.
Distribution
Quite common on  the  lower  mountains,  steppe  and  lower  Mesopotamian  plain.  Transcaucasia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, C Asia.
[FIQ]

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