Carthamus lanatus L., Sp. Pl. 830. 1753; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 3: 386. 1881.

Annuals, erect, rigid, cobwebby cottony or glabrate, glandular, 15 - 45 cm high. Radical leaves lyrate-pinnatifid, spinose dentate; 7 - 14 cm long, hispid or scaberulous, cauline ovate, spinescent, 2.5 - 3.5 cm long, half-amplexicaul, strongly 3-nerved. Heads 2.5 - 3.5 cm across. Outer involucral bracts large, lanceolate, lanceolate, 2.5 - 5 cm long, spreading, lanceolate, leafy, spinescent; inner oblong-lanceolate to linear, entire, scarious. Receptacle bristles very long. Flowers pale yellow. Achenes pale yellowish or grey, ca 6 mm long, very hard, obtusely 4-angled. Pappus pale, silvery or bronze coloured narrowly sword shaped, ca 1 cm long, unequal.

Fl. & Fr. July St!pt.

Distrib. India: W. Himalayas, in waste lands, 1500-2300 m Jammu & Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh.

Pakistan, W. Asia, Europe, and Westward to Atlantic.

Notes. Seeds yield an oil and plant is used in France as sudorific, febrifuge and anthelmintic. (Chopra et al. 1956).