Gundelia rosea

Perennial herb with branched stem up to 30-90 cm. Leaves coriaceous, prostate, alternate, pinnatilobate or pinnatisect, spiny. Both side short or arachnoid hairs, especially on or besides the veins. Synflorescences normally 8-50, globose or ovoid, 40-60 mm long and 30-50 mm in diameter , consisting of 50-70 cephaloids. Synflorescence densely covered with arachnoid hairs when young. Bracts spiny, more or less exceeding cephaloids, with a strong terminal spine and 2-4 lateral spines, with additional smaller spines in between, in aberrant forms bracts up to 50 mm long, and to 10 mm broad. Bracts densely covered by tomentose and arachnoid hairs and are normally tinged with purple. Cephaloid compound of 7-8 flowers. Flowers campanulate to widely spreading, corolla externally purplish to dark red, internally pinkish, 14-18 mm long , tube very narrowly. Synflorescence glabrous. Fruit complex normally conical to obovoid, greyish to light brown, 13-20 mm long , in upper part 8-14 mm in diameter , central and lateral flowers surrounded by spines originated from the involucels, spines of the central flowers 2-7 mm, of the lateral flowers 1.5-6 mm.

Iraq