Mantisalca
Genus of flowering plants
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mantisalca is a genus of plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae, it contains six described species.[3][4]
| Mantisalca | |
|---|---|
| |
| A dagger flower, Mantisalca salmantica, in Albatera Alicante, Spain. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Subfamily: | Carduoideae |
| Tribe: | Cardueae |
| Subtribe: | Centaureinae |
| Genus: | Mantisalca Cass.[1][2] |
| Type species | |
| Mantisalca salmantica | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Description
Annual or biennial herbs growing between 50 cm to 1.3 metres in size.[5][6] Herbage is not spiny.[6]
Morphology
The stems are erect, strongly branched, longitudinal parallel lines (striate) with wings on stem absent.[5]
Leaves grow around the base (basal) and along the stem (cauline).[6] Leaves are without spines. Basal leaves dissected to the midrib with the leave segments merging (confluent) at the midrib (pinnatisect).[5] Stem leaves sparse, much reduced, very narrow in length with parallel sides (linear) and toothed, with the teeth pointing towards the leaf tip (serrate).[5]
Flower heads are solitary with ray-florets absent and receptacle scales present.[7] Involcural bracts are ovoid to spheric in shape, 10 to 15 mm in diameter.[6] The bracts are in several series, up to eight in number, ending in a short deciduous spines or with a short sharp point (mucronate).[7][6][5]
Distribution and habitat
Mantisalca occurs primarily in northern Africa, southern Europe and Turkey. One species, Mantisalca salmantica, is naturalised in Australia.[5]
Taxonomy
Species
- Mantisalca amberboides (Caball.) Maire - Morocco
- Mantisalca cabezudoi E.Ruíz & Devesa
- Mantisalca delestrii Briq. & Cavill. - Morocco, Algeria
- Mantisalca duriaei Briq. & Cavill. - France, Spain, Italy
- Mantisalca salmantica (L.) Briq. & Cavill. - widespread from Britain + Morocco to Palestine
- Mantisalca spinulosa (Rouy) E.Ruíz & Devesa
Selected hybrids include:
- Mantisalca × castroviejoi E.Ruíz & Devesa