About Scolymus grandiflorus Desf.
Scolymus grandiflorus Desf. is a spiny herbaceous plant that can be an annual or biennial. It grows up to ¾ of a meter in height, and contains milky latex. This species has twenty chromosomes, with a chromosome count of 2n=20. It is most widely distributed across Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Malta, Libya, and Sicily. It can also be found in Lebanon, Turkey, multiple regions of Italy including Sicily, Sardinia, Lombardia, Tuscany, Basilicata, Calabria, Puglia and Abruzzo, and parts of France including the coast of the Languedoc-Roussillon region, the departement Bouches-du-Rhône, and southern Corsica, though it has a patchy distribution in these areas. Notably, it is not present in eastern Spain, the Balearic Islands, or the southern Balkans. S. grandiflorus prefers coastal areas, and is most often found growing on sandy soils. It grows on wastelands, and is frequently found growing alongside species from the genera Carduus, Carthamus, and Onopordum.
