Launaea arborescens (Batt.) Murb.
Family: COMPOSITAE (ASTERACEAE)
Genus: Launaea
Catalan common name: Gatell, Socorrell.
Spanish common name: Lechuguino espinoso, Rascamoños.
Province distribution: Alacant. Balearic Islands.
Distribution in the islands: Ibiza.
General distribution (Phytogeography): Southwestern Mediterranean
Plants protected by law: País Valencià Catalogue.
IUCN Category: Critically endangered
Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Life-forms: Chameophyte. Nanophanerophyte.
Habitats: Cultivated fields, path and road sides, disturbed zones. Subdesertic xerosteppes, espartaes. Dry subnitriphilous scrub that establishes on more or less disturbed barren soils and along road margins.
Characteristics: Shrub up to 150 cm tall, spiny, dense, lignified at the base. Stems glabrous, bearing numerous branches at roughly right angles, very intricate, with branches terminating in spines. Leaves sparse and deciduous. Capitula pedunculate, with a cylindrical involucre of imbricate bracts, grayish to blackish, and yellow flowers, sometimes with reddish tinges on the outer side. Fruits with a body about 4 mm long and a pappus nearly twice as long.
Observations: Very similar to Launaea lanifera. It differs by its larger, more robust, glabrous stems, non-persistent leaves, and slightly narrower capitula (10-12 mm in width).