Mantisalca is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae.[3][4]
Annual or biennial herbs growing between 50 cm to 1.3 metres in size.[5][6] Herbage is not spiny.[6]
The stems are erect, strongly branched, longitudinal parallel lines (striate) with wings on stem absent.[5]
Leaves grow around the base (basal) and along the stem (cauline).[6] Leaves are without spines. Basal leaves dissected to the midrib with the leave segments merging (confluent) at the midrib (pinnatisect).[5] Stem leaves sparse, much reduced, very narrow in length with parallel sides (linear) and toothed, with the teeth pointing towards the leaf tip (serrate).[5]
Flower heads are solitary with ray-florets absent and receptacle scales present.[7] Involcural bracts are ovoid to spheric in shape, 10 to 15 mm in diameter.[6] The bracts are in several series, up to eight in number, ending in a short deciduous spines or with a short sharp point (mucronate).[7][6][5]
Mantisalca occurs primarily in northern Africa, southern Europe and Turkey. One species, Mantisalca salmantica, is naturalised in Australia.[5]
Mantisalca is the anagram of the type species epithet salmantica.[6]
Selected hybrids include:
Mantisalca is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae.
