Description: Biennial. Stem 20-150cm, hairless or somwhat cobwebby, green. Basal leaves 25-50 × 12-25cm, lobed, hairless or almost so, stalked; stem leaves smaller, less deeply divided, eared at base, and clasping stem with straw-coloured spines up to 8mm. Flower heads 25-40mm; on long erect stalks, without or with few or with few, small, leaf-like bracts; outer and middle phyllaries with appendages 8-15 by 6-10mm, gradually tapered into recurved, channelled spines 20-50mm. Cypselas 6-8 × 2.5-4mm, shiny, black with grey spots; pappus 15-20mm.

Poison: When grown on nitrogen rich soils, especially those that have been fed with chemical fertilizers, this plant can concentrate nitrates in the leaves. Nitrates are implicated in stomach cancers.

Uses: Additive, Honey, Medical

Distribution: Albania,  Algeria,  Azores,  Bosnia-Herzegovina,  Bulgaria,  Corsica,  Crete,  Croatia,  Cyprus,  East Aegean Islands,