Cynara cardunculus subsp. flavescens

Cynara cardunculus, present in almost all the Mediterranean, is reported to contain two wild subspecies, namely subsp. cardunculus and subsp. flavescens Wiklund, differing for bracts characters and geographical distribution: the former is distributed from Cyprus to Greece, Central and Southern Italy, Sicily and Sardinia, the latter is diffused in the Iberian peninsula and Macaronesian region (Wiklund 1992). Morphological differences refer especially to bract colour, shape and spines, subsp. cardunculus showing longer and more acute spines, and subsp. flavescens possessing a yellowish margin in the middle involucral bracts.