Carduus L.

Perennial or annual herbs. Stems erect, simple, or branched above, usually spiny-winged. Leaves usually decurrent on the stem, usually pinnatifid, spinescent at the margins. Capitula discoid, in dense terminal clusters, sometimes solitary. Involucre globose or campanulate; phyllaries imbricate in many series, margins entire scabrous or ± ciliate (serrate or fimbriate). Receptacle flat or convex, pitted, densely setose. Corolla purple, pink or white, deeply 5-lobed. Fruit achenes glabrous, ovate-oblong, somewhat angled with a raised annular collar at the apex, attachment-scar basal; pappus many-seriate of scabrid setae united at the base.

Worldwide: 95 species, most native to Europe, Central Asia, North Africa and the Canary Islands.

Malawi: 1 taxon.