Onopordum tauricum Willd.

Herb, up to 2 m high. Stems with dense erect glandular hairs; wings 3–10 mm wide. Leaves green, with glandular hairs on both surfaces; marginal spines yellow-brown, 3–6 mm long. Capitula solitary, terminal, on short peduncles; involucre sub-globose, 27–50 mm diam. excluding patent bracts; median involucral bracts patent, deltate, 18–35 mm long, 3–6 mm wide, entire, glandular-hairy. Corolla purple; tube 18–25 mm long; lobes 7–10.5 mm long, glabrous. Anthers 8.5–11 mm long. Achenes cuneiform, obscurely 4-angled, 4.1–4.7 mm long, brown, without longitudinal ribs, but with numerous prominent transverse wrinkles. Pappus bristles barbellate, 55–84, 9–11 mm long.

It is a temperate or Mediterranean climate plant.

The stem is eaten in salads.