Carthamus lanatus subsp. lanatus

Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A., 1976, Flora Europaea. Volume 4. Plantaginaceae to Compositae (and Rubiaceae), Cambridge University Press : 303

(a) Subsp. lanatus :

Indumentum more or less densely lanatevillous and arachnoid; stems straw-coloured. Spines borne at an acute angle to the leaf-margin. Outer involucral bracts erect or slightly patent, c. 1| times as long as the inner. Corolla and anthers yellow. 2« = 44. Throughout the range of the species except parts of the extreme south.

An allotetraploid, perhaps with 3 as one parent.