Flora of Israel: False plumed-thistle

Onopordum carduiforme, Onopordum telavivense, False plumed-thistle,
Hebrew: חוחן קרדני, Arabic: عثور خرفيش


Scientific name:		Onopordum carduiforme Boiss.
Synonym name:		Onopordum telavivense Eig.
Common name:		False plumed-thistle
Hebrew name:		חוחן קרדני
Arabic name:		عثور خرفيش
Family:		Compositae / Asteraceae, מורכבים

Israel wildflowers, Israel fleurs sauvages

_{Location: Bnei Zion Nature Reserve}


Life form:		Hemicryptophyte
Spinescence:		Leaves, bracts
Branching:		2-10cm above the ground
Leaves:		Alternate, rosette, dissected, pinnate, dentate or serrate, spinescent
Flowers:		Length of peduncles: 10-30 cm; Color corolla: pink, violet, spinescent bracts; head diameter: 20-40 mm
Flowering Period:		March, April, May, June
Soils:		sandy-loamy and sandy-silty on sandstone or alluvium
Habitat:		Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:		Coastal Galilee, Acco Plain, Coastal Carmel, Sharon Plain, Philistean Plain, Shefela, Northern Negev
Altitude:		10-200 (-850) m above sea level
Chorotype:		Mediterranean
Summer shedding:		Ephemeral

Onopordum carduiforme, Onopordum telavivense, False plumed-thistle, חוחן קרדני

_{Cetonidae (Cetoniinae), flower beetle: Cetonia aurata

Location: Netanya, the Dora rain pool}

Derivation of the botanical name:
Onopordum, an early Latin name for a group of thistles, derived from the Greek onos, meaning "ass", and porde, flatulence, because of the belief that the plant caused flatulence in donkeys.
carduiforme, cardu noun/m "thistle", "forme", to be in the form or shape of... thistle formed.
telavivense,Tel Aviv, Israel.
The Hebrew name: חוחן, khokhan, derivated from חוח, khokh, briar, thorn; related to Aramaic: חוחא, Akkadian: hàh ( = thorn), hahhu, hàyahu ( = thorn).

The standard author abbreviation Boiss. is used to indicate Pierre Edmond Boissier (1810 – 1885), a Swiss botanist, explorer and mathematician.
The standard author abbreviation Eig. is used to indicate Alexander Eig (1894 – 1938), an Israeli botanist, and one of the founders of the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens on Mount Scopus, together with Zohary and Naomi Feinbron. "The creator of plant Science in Israel."

Onopordum carduiforme Boiss. prefers the sandy soils of the coastal plain of Israel and differs by its habitus and flower color from the Onopordum blancheanum (Eig) Danin that is confined to basalt soils at an altitude of 300-1000 m.

Onopordum carduiforme, Onopordum telavivense, False plumed-thistle, חוחן קרדני

_{Location: Netanya, the Dora rain pool}

Onopordum carduiforme, Onopordum telavivense, False plumed-thistle, חוחן קרדני

_{Location: Netanya, the Dora rain pool}