Scolymus
genus of plants
Scolymus is a genus of annual, biennial or perennial, herbaceous plants that is assigned to the family Asteraceae, and can be found in Macaronesia, around the Mediterranean, and in the Middle East. All species are spiny, thistle-like in appearance, with flowerheads that consist of yellow (rarely orange or white) ligulate florets, and canals that contain latex. It is sometimes called golden thistle or oyster thistle, and is known as سكوليمس (skwlyms) in Arabic and scolyme in French.
Description
The species of Scolymus are spiny herbaceous annuals, biennials or perennials of up to 1¾ m high, that contain a milky latex. These have twenty chromosomes (2n=20).
Root, stem and leaves
Biannual and perennial plants produce a stout taproot of up to 8 cm in diameter and 60 cm long. Young plants consist of a rosette of leaves, which may be variegated, once-pinnately spiny-lobed, to 30 cm long, and having short, fleshy stalks. The stems can be simple or carry many branches, and carry spiny wings along their lengths. The wavy leaves with prominent veins are pinnately divided and are alternately set along the stems. The leaf margin has prominent pale green or yellow veins and large teeth which are topped by fierce spines.
“Scolymus” enters the record as genus of plants. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Scolymus, genus and plants can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Scolymus” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Scolymus, genus and plants provides the most credible route into that argument.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 12, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q2530127. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.
- Current terminology
- Classification context
- Finding cited technical literature
Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Scolymus”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Scolymus primary sources, Scolymus archive and Scolymus research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Scolymus”?
- Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
- Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Scolymus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.