Flora-Fauna

Picnomon acarna (L.) Cass.

≡ Carduus acarna L.
≡ Cirsium acarna (L.) Moench
(First published in Dict. Sci. Nat., ed. 2, 40: 188; 1826. Treated in Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, p. 456; 1983)

• Life-form & habit: Annual, 50–100 cm, with dense canescent arachnoid indumentum. Stems erect, winged, narrowly subentire, ciliate, spiny, branching corymbosely above.
• Leaves: More or less coriaceous, lanceolate, pinnatilobed into very short lobes, each ending with 2 yellow spines; uppermost leaves densely grouped, surrounding and overtopping the capitula.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Capitula solitary or more often in groups of 2–4. Involucre 2–3 cm, bracts lanceolate, ending in a short spiny tip, scarious at apex. Florets purple.
• Phenology: Flowers July–August.
• Habitat & elevation: Gardens, vineyards, fallow land, abandoned grounds.
• Lebanese distribution: Coastal plain — Beirut; Middle mountains — Broummana, Qrayyé, ‘Abey, Bhamdoun, Douma; Upper mountains — Dimane, Khan Sannine; Bekaa — Mreijatte, Ta‘naïl, Ksara .
• Syrian distribution: Damascus region (Jabal Qasyoun, ‘Aïn Beida, environs of Damascus); Jabal Druze — Soueida .
• Native range: Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, southern France, Italy, Balkans, Greece, Aegean islands, Turkey, Transcaucasia, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Palestine .

⚠️ Taxonomic note: Mouterde maintained Picnomon as a distinct genus (monotypic) separate from Notobasis. Easily recognized by its solitary or few grouped capitula overtopped by dense spiny upper leaves, and by its arachnoid tomentose aspect.