Scolymus grandiflorus
Scolymus grandiflorus
Scolymus grandiflorus is a spiny annual or biennial plant in the family Asteraceae, native to the Mediterranean region. With up to 75 cm high stems, it is the smallest of the species of Scolymus. Its stems are lined with uninterrupted spiny wings. It also has the largest flowerheads in the genus, of approximately 5 cm wide. It has yellow, sometimes yolk-yellow ligulate florets. Its vernacular name in Maltese is xewk isfar kbir, meaning "large yellow fin", cardogna maggiore in Italian, scoddi on Sicily, and scolyme à grandes fleurs in French.
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Gallery
Large-flowered Golden Thistle (Scolymus grandiflorus) (52075371373)Scolymus grandiflorus Monte Pellegrino 08
Scolymus grandiflorus RF
Scolymus grandiflorus Monte Pellegrino 04
Scolymus grandiflorus Monte Pellegrino 02
Large-flowered Golden Thistle (Scolymus grandiflorus) (52074328872)Large-flowered Golden Thistle (Scolymus grandiflorus) (52075371373)Scolymus grandiflorus Monte Pellegrino 08Overview
Scolymus grandiflorus is a spiny herbaceous annual or biennial of up to ¾ m high, that contains a milky latex. It has twenty chromosomes (2n=20).
Life cycle
From seed to productSeed & germination
The plant is propagated mainly by **seed**: sow fresh or pre-treated seed in loose, moist soil and keep it evenly damp; germination follows within a few weeks.
Seedling & growth
Seedlings establish, forming leaves and roots; growth rate depends on light and moisture.
Flowering
The plant blooms with **yellow flower heads, summer**; pollination is by insects and wind.
Fruiting & harvest
After flowering the plant sets fruit and seed; **ripe achenes gathered late summer–autumn**.
Distribution & origin
Share of recorded occurrences by region- France29%
- Italy27%
- Algeria8%
- Portugal4%
- Spain2%
- Tunisia1%
- Morocco1%
- Other regions28%
Habitat & conservation
The species is most widely present in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Malta, Libya, and on Sicily. It further occurs in Lebanon, Turkey, Italy (Sicily, Sardinia, Lombardia, Tuscany, Basilicata, Calabria, Puglia and Abruzzo), and in France (the coast of the Languedoc-Roussillon region, the departement Bouches-du-Rhône and on southern Corsica), but has a patchy distribution in these parts. Remarkable is its absence from the east of Spain and the Balears and from the south of the Balkans.
References
- 1Scolymus grandiflorus — Wikipedia — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), 2026
- 2Large-flowered yellow thistle — Wild Plants of Malta and Gozo,
- 3Scolymus grandiflorus Desf. — Fora Acta Plantarum,
- 4Plant Roots: The Hidden Half — CRC Press, 2013
- 5GBIF — occurrence records of Scolymus grandiflorus — GBIF, 2026
- 6Hình ảnh — Wikimedia Commons (6 ảnh, giấy phép CC/PD) — Wikimedia Commons, 2026