Launaea arborescens (Batt.) Murb.
Spa.: Rascamoños. Fre.: Launée. Ara.: Bu chlâba, umelbina, mmu l-bina, iferskil, intrim. Tam.: Iferskel.
Shrub, laticiferous, spinescent, evergreen, hermaphrodite, up to 1.5 m in height, extremely branched, with zig-zag branching, highly tangled, intricate. Stems and older branches with greyish bark, smooth or slightly fissured. Young branches glaucous, whitish or greenish-ashen, ending in spines. Leaves very elongated (up to 5 cm, but usually less than 2 cm), with entire lobes, glabrous, green on both sides, born forming rosettes on the stems and the lower part of the branches, sometimes solitary along the branches. Inflorescence in terminal capitula. Involucre narrowly ovoid, 0.9-1.5 cm long, with several rows of ovate bracts, unequal in size. Flowers yellow, all ligulate. Fruit an elongated subtetragonal achene, 3-4 mm, with a pappus of white feathery hairs.
Flowering:
Usually in spring, but flowers can be seen almost throughout the year.
Fruiting:
1-2 months later.
Habitat:
Very diverse terrains along the coast and inland. From Saharan to semiarid bioclimate, on inframediterranean and thermomediterranean floors. It often behaves as ruderal, soon colonising soils disturbed by humans (irrigation canals, etc.), and it is often the first woody species that appears when thickets begin to develop.
Distribution:
SE of Spain, Canary Islands and NW Africa. In this region it is found in the less humid and cooler areas of almost all of Morocco and western Algeria, reaching Mauritania in the S.
Conservation status:
Common and widely distributed species. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.