Scientific name: | Crepis aculeata (DC.) Boiss. | |
Synonym name: | Barkhausia aculeata DC., Crepis pungens Desf. ex Pers | |
Common name: | (Prickly) Hawksbeard | |
Hebrew name: | ניסנית שיכנית | |
Arabic name: | سَراغَة شائكَة | |
Plant Family: | Compositae / Asteraceae, מורכבים |
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Life form: | Annual | |
Stems: | 15-45 cm high; caudex swollen; flowering stems ascending or erect, tomentose below and at bifurcations, glabrous or sparsely hispid above, branched already from base | |
Leaves: | Alternate, entire, dentate or serrate | |
Flowers: | Hermaphrodite, yellow | |
Fruits / pods: | Dimorphic achenes (two distinct forms); outer achenes fusiform, dorsally curved, laterally compressed, 7.0-9.0 mm long, pubescent, dorsally striate and ventrally smooth, sometimes winged, greyish, yellowish or brown, attenuate, enclosed by the inner involucral bracts, with sparse pappus; inner achenes fusiform, glabrous, finely muricate, orange-brown, with 16-18 ribs, 3-4 ribs somewhat stronger, with a filiform beak, with pappus. Pappus white, united at base, persistent | |
Flowering Period: | March, April | |
Habitat: | Sand | |
Distribution: | Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Shrub-steppes | |
Chorotype: | Mediterranean | |
Summer shedding: | Ephemeral |
Derivation of the botanical name: Crepis, Greek krepis, krepidos "a boot, foundation, pedestal," Latin crepis for an unknown plant (Plinius); Theophrastus used krepis for oxtongue, Helminthia echioides (Theophrastus, Enquiry into plants, book VII. viii. 3). aculeata, with prickles or stings, spine-like; prickly. Barkhausia, named for Johann Conrad Barkhausen (1666-1723), Professor of Chemistry at the University of Utrecht. pungens, spiny, pungent; sharp-pointed.
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