Spiny Starwort

Pallenis spinosa, Astericus spinosus, Spiny Starwort,
Hebrew: מוצית קוצנית, Arabic: شوك

Scientific name:   Pallenis spinosa (L.) Cass.
Synonym name:   Astericus spinosus (L.) Sch.Bip.
Common name:   Spiny Starwort
Hebrew name:   מוצית קוצנית
Arabic name:   شوك
Family:   Compositae / Asteraceae, מורכבים


Life form:   Hemicryptophyte
Spinescence:   Bracts
Stems:   Up to 60 cm, softly hairy; hard, woody at the base, usually branched, the branches overtopping the main stem
Leaves:   Alternate, rosette, entire, dentate or serrate
Flowers:   Yellowish orange, hermaphrodite disc florets and two whorls of yellow ray florets; long, villous, involucral bracts end in an apical sharp-pointed spine
Fruits / pods:   Achenes 2–2.5 mm
Flowering Period:   April, May, June
Habitat:   Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Pallenis , palea (chaff), referring to the chaffy receptacle.

spinosa, spinos, “thorny”, refers to its spiny nature.
Astericus, aster, αστηρ, a star; -icus, Greek -ikos “in the manner of; pertaining to; small star; asterisk.
The Hebrew name: מוצית, mozit, from מוצ (=chaff) with suffix -it.

  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
  • The standard author abbreviation Sch.Bip. is used to indicate Carl Heinrich Bipontinus Schultz (1805–1867), (Bipontinus, a Latinized reference to his birthplace- Zweibrücken), a physician and botanist .
  • The standard author abbreviation Cass. is used to indicate – Alexandre Henri Gabriel de Cassini (1781–1832) , a French botanist and naturalist, who specialised in the sunflower family (Asteraceae).