Onopordum cynarocephalum, Artichoke Cotton-thistle,
Hebrew: חוחן הקנרס, Arabic: اقسون حرفشي الرأس

Scientific name:		Onopordum cynarocephalum Boiss. et Blanche
Common name:		Artichoke Cotton-thistle
Hebrew name:		חוחן הקנרס
Arabic name:		اقسون حرفشي الرأس
Plant Family:		Compositae / Asteraceae, מורכבים

Life form:		Hemicryptophyte
Spinescence:		Leaves, bracts
Leaves:		Alternate, rosette, entire, dentate or serrate, spinescent
Flowers:		Purple, spinescent bracts
Flowering Period:		May, June, July
Habitat:		Nutrient-rich soils, ruderal
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:		Mediterranean
Summer shedding:		Ephemeral

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. cynarocephalum, kynara or kinara, kynaros akantha, the Greek for a spiny plant; Latin cinara, for a kind of artichoke and for a native of the island of Cinara, in the Aegean Sea, now Zinara; -cephalum, headed; cynara headed. 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 Blanche is used to indicate Emanuel Blanche (1824 - 1908), a French botanist.