Dipsacus fullonum L.
Family: DIPSACACEAE
Genus: Dipsacus
Catalan common name: Cardó. Pinta de moro.
Spanish common name: Cardencha. Cardencha silvestre.
Province distribution: Alacant. Balearic Islands. Barcelona. Castelló. Girona. Lleida. Tarragona. València.
Distribution in the islands: Mallorca. Ibiza.
General distribution (Phytogeography): Some regions
Uses and properties: Medicinal.
IUCN Category: Least concern
Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Life-forms: Hemicryptophyte.
Habitats: Non-saline wetlands (intermittent watercourses, streams, artesian wells, ditches). Herbaceous communities, humid soils.
Characteristics: An erect plant with a robust trunk that can reach over two metres in height. It is biennial; the first year it forms a leaf rosette that grows close to the ground, while the second year forms the stem and flowers. Both the trunk and the leaves are covered with hard spines. In the leaves, these spines are found covering the innervations. The stalk leaves are opposite and each pair is fused to the base, forming a sort of small basin were water can accumulate. The flowers are formed at the upper part of the stalk in a type of capitulum of violet covered flowers that form a cylinder with a rounded apex. The inflorescence is very compact and when the plant withers and dies, it can maintain itself in an erect position for quite sometime before falling. This plant lives near many wet areas and can form very densely populated communities. Flowers from May to June.