Flora of New Zealand Series

Grecian thistle

Biennial to monocarpic perennial. Stems erect, branched above, with subappressed to felted cobwebby tomentum, 20-50-(100) cm tall. Lvs narrowly oblong, pinnatifid, green and subglabrous above, densely white-tomentose beneath, 7-20 × 1.5-4 cm; lobes narrowly triangular, usually 2-3-fid to base; prickles pale, 5-12 mm long. Capitula broadly ovoid, erect, 3-4 × 2.5-3.5 cm, pedunculate. Involucral bracts all narrowly deltoid, with sparse cobwebby hairs; midrib stout; apex tapering gradually to a spine; marginal spines in 1-3 pairs; outer bracts strongly reflexed; middle and inner bracts erect. Corolla purple, c. 25 mm long; lobes c. 5 mm long. Style shortly exserted beyond corolla lobes. Achenes brown, broadly obovoid, 4-4.5 × 3 mm; pappus 15-20 mm long; cilia on pappus bristles 2-3 mm long.

S.: Canterbury (Waikari, Waipara, Amberley).

Balkans 1939

Tussock grassland and scrub, riverbanks, limestone rubble.

FL Dec-Jan FT Jan-Feb.

P. afer is a calcicole in its native range and is probably confined to limestone sites in N.Z. as well. N.Z. material is referable to subsp. afer. subsp. eburneus occurs in Turkey. P. afer has also been referred to in N.Z. as Chamaepeuce afra.