Carlina acaulis

Carlina Acaulis

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Carlina acaulis

Carlina acaulis (Stemless carline thistle, Dwarf carline thistle, or Silver thistle) is a perennial

Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
dicotyledonous flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
in the family Asteraceae

Asteraceae

The family Asteraceae or Compositae is the largest family of flowering plants, in terms of number of species.The name 'Asteraceae' is derived from the type genus Aster , while 'Compositae', an older but still valid name, means composite and refers to the characteristic inflorescence, a special type of pseudanthium found in o...
, native to alpine

Alpine climate

Alpine climate is the average weather for a region above the tree line. The climate becomes colder at high elevations—this characteristic is described by the adiabatic lapse rate of air: air tends to get colder as it rises, since it expands....
regions of central and southern Europe. The common names are descriptive of the manner that its flower head rests directly upon a basal leaf

Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
rosette.

The spiny, pinnatilobate leaves grow in a basal rosette approximately 20 cm in diameter.

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Encyclopedia

Carlina acaulis (Stemless carline thistle, Dwarf carline thistle, or Silver thistle) is a perennial

Perennial plant

Flowering plant

Asteraceae

Alpine climate

Leaf

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s are produced in a large (up to 10 cm) flowerhead

Inflorescence

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches....
of silvery-white ray florets around a central disc. The disc florets are tubular and yellow-brown in colour. To protect the pollen

Pollen

Pollen is a fine to coarse powder consisting of Gametophyte , which produce the male gametes of spermatophyta. A hard coat covering the pollen grain protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement between the stamens of the flower to the pistil of the next flower....
, the head closes in wet weather, a phenomenon folklore holds to presage forthcoming rain. The flowering time is between August and September.

It prefers chalky soils and dry pastures in environments from valleys up to an altitude of 2,800 m.

Subspecies There are two subspecies:

Carlina acaulis subsp. acaulis – inflorescences sessile
Carlina acaulis subsp. simplex – inflorescences with a short stem

Uses

The rhizome

Rhizome

In botany, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal plant stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes....
contains a number of essential oil

Essential oil

An essential oil is a concentrated, hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. They are also known as volatile or ethereal oils, or simply as the "oil of" the plant material from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove....
s, in particular the antibacterial carlina oxide. The root was formerly employed in herbal medicine as a diuretic

Diuretic

A diuretic is any drug that elevates the rate of urination and thus provides a means of forced diuresis. There are several categories of diuretics....
and cold remedy

Common cold

Acute viral rhinopharyngitis, or acute coryza, usually known as the common cold, is a highly contagious, virus infectious disease of the upper respiratory system, primarily caused by picornaviruses or coronaviruses....
.

While young, the flowerhead bud can be cooked and eaten in a similar manner to the Globe artichoke

Globe artichoke

The Globe Artichoke is a Perennial plant thistle originating in southern Europe around the Mediterranean. It grows to 1.5-2 m tall, with arching, deeply lobed, silvery glaucous-green leaf 50?82 cm long....
, which earned it the nickname of hunter's bread.

It is sometimes cultivated as a rockery plant, or dried and hung as a house decoration.