Sonchus pinnatifidus Cav.
Spa.: Cerrajón. Ara.:/Tam.: Tifaf.
Shrub, laticiferous, up to 2(2.5) m in height, with woody stems at the base and tortuous branches, fragile, with white bark. Leaves alternate, glabrous, arranged in rosettes on upper parts of the branches, up to 16 × 7 cm, petiolate, with leaf blade elliptic or oblanceolate, pinnatifid, with segments alternate, oblong-lanceolate, wide, acute and mucronate. Capitula pedunculate, up to 2 cm in diameter, grouped in broad lax terminal corymbs, peduncle with some bracteiform leaves and thickened in the upper part. Involucre ovoid, with several rows of imbricate bracts, narrowly ovate or linear, acute. Receptacle bare, without scales or hairs. Flowers all ligulate, numerous, deep yellow. Achenes oblongish, slightly compressed, with pappus formed by 2 rows of long scabrid hairs.
Flowering:
March to May.
Fruiting:
May to July.
Habitat:
Rupicolous, found in littoral cliffs and inland.
Distribution:
Endemic to the Canary Islands (La Graciosa, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura) and western Morocco. In Morocco it is found from the area between Safí and Drâa River, up to the western region of the Anti-Atlas.
Observations:
S. pinnatifidus belongs to the Macaronesian element, since it is part of the subgenus Dendrosonchus Sch.Bip., composed of about 20 subshrubby or shrubby woody species, all but this one endemic to the Canary Islands (16 species) and Madeira (3 species).
Conservation status:
Rare species and with a small distribution area. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.