Classification
 Subordinate Taxa
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Silybum Adans., Fam. Pl. 2, 116, 605 (1763)
 Description

Annual or biennial herbs. Hairs short and mealy, or long, fine and cobwebby. Lvs alternate, sessile, pinnatifid, sinuate, dentate, auriculate to amplexicaul; lobes and teeth spine-tipped. Capitula homogamous, globose to ovoid, solitary. Involucral bracts in several series, ovate to linear, glabrescent, with sparse cobwebby hairs on margins; margins and apex spinous. Receptacle flat, with dense hairs; scales 0. Florets ☿, all tubular. Corolla glabrous, 5-lobed, reddish purple. Anthers acute at apex, sagittate at base; filaments hairy. Style branches linear, erect, appressed. Achenes obovoid, smooth; achene insertion obliquely basal; pappus hairs in several rows, united at base into a ring; outer hairs stiff, scabrid; innermost hairs short, very fine.

[From: Webb et al. (1988) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 4.]

 Biostatus
Exotic
Number of species in New Zealand within Silybum Adans.
CategoryNumber
Exotic: Fully Naturalised1
Total1
 Bibliography
Adanson, M. 1763: Familles des Plantes. Vol. 2. Vincent, Paris.
Mabberley, D.J. 2008: Mabberley's plant book, a portable dictionary of plants, their classification and uses. Edition 3. Cambridge University Press.