Acanthus mollis

Ayıpençesi

Ascending herb, to 60 cm, ± puberulent, stem and petioles densely pubescent. Lower leaves long-petiolate; lamina 12-20 cm broad, shining, pinnatifid, lobes oblong to triangular, dentate, lobules spinulose, strigillose above, glabrous beneath except for ciliolate veins. Bracts ovate, dentate, spinescent, 5-7-veined. Bracteoles llnear-lanceolate, subulate. Corolla white, puberulent outside, sparsely hairy within. Style sparsely hairy at base, ovary pilose at apex. Fl. 6. Cultivated locally, and sometimes escaping.

S. Europe, N.W. Africa . W. Medit, element. A handsome species, distinctive in its glossy-green leaves, pubescent scape, ovate bracts, and rhombic-ovate lateral calyx lobes.