Mallorcan thistles

Mallorcan Wildflower Identification Guide
These pages are ongoing and will become more organised and seasonally orientated over the year.
Colours are loosely grouped. Blossom colour: white, yellow/orange/red, pink/lavender/violet, blue/purple, green.
Colchicum autumnale Colchicum autumnale
Còlquic. (Cat.)
Autumn Crocus, Meadow Saffron.
Also known as Naked Lady because the deep pink flowers emerge from the bare earth, long after the leaves have died back, following the end of summer rains. Carpets the ground in dense drifts. The corm contains the alkaloid colchicines, a poison for which there is no antidote. Weak doses are beneficial in treating gout. Widespread in scrub and garrigue.
Allium ampeloprasum Allium ampeloprasum
All de serp, All porrer, All porro. (Cat.)
(Broadleaf) Wild Leek.
Perennial bulb with stem growing up to 1.50 metres tall. Pinkish-violet flower head comprises tiny florets. Aromatic. Widespread in fields and dry soil.
Allium roseum Allium roseum
Rosy Garlic, Ornamental Garlic.
Umbels of up to 30 delicate loose lavender coloured florets atop each long green stalk. Fragrant although the smell and flavour of the bulb discourages rodents from eating nearby plants. Edible Old World species. Perennial.
Cistus albidus Cistus albidus
Rock Rose.
Showy pinkish-lilac flowers with crumpled papery look to petals. Perennial shrubs. Rough surfaced aromatic and slightly sticky leaves produce a typical Mediterranean aroma. Widespread in dry rocky places, poor sandy soil, hills, scrub and garrigue.
Opium Poppy Papaver somniferum
Cascall (C Poppy
Papaver, the Latin name for poppies is derived from papa, Latin for food or milk and refers to the milky sap of the plant. Plant yields more than 25 alkaloids, principally morphine and codeine. Poppy seeds are widely used in baking and poppyseed oil has culinary uses. Prolific in cultivated fields, hedgerows, waysides. Widespread
Echium plantagineum Echium plantagineum
Llengua de bou. Tapabraguetes.(Cat.) Purple Viper’s Bugloss, Patterson’s Curse.
Flower purple becoming deep blue. Leaves slightly rough to the touch. Its toxic alkaloid content is cumulative in the liver and it is poisonous to livestock, particularly horses. Widespread. Found in degraded pastures, roadsides and neglected areas.
See also Echium vulgare
Scabiosa maritima Scabiosa maritima
Cardetes, Escabiosa, Viuda, Viuda borda. (Cat.) Field Scabius, Gypsy Rose.
Name derives from the Latin scabere “scratch” and its use in the treatment of scabies and sores caused by the Bubonic Plague. Flattish headed perennial. In spite of the name, it is not found only by the sea but widespread and adaptable as to habitat it can be found from roadsides to mountainsides.
Misopates orontium Misopates orontium
Cap-de-mort, Gossets. (Cat.)
Weasel's Snout, Lesser Snapdragon
Annual herbaceous plant whose tiny pink flowers resemble those of the garden Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus<(/i>). All descriptive names derive from its likeness to a “nose”, first described in Ancient Greek. Its fruit is similar to a weasel’s snout. Widespread in dry areas, roadsides and fields.
Tragopogon porrifolius Tragopogon porrifolius
Barba de cabra, Herba barbuda. (Cat.)
Salsify, Purple salsify, Oyster plant, Goatsbeard.
Biennial or perennial plant. Very attractive purple flower. Seeds borne in a globe, dispersed by the wind. The root is edible and described as having a flavour similar to oysters, hence one of its popular names. Shoots and young leaves are also edible. Blooms in May. Widespread along roadsides and on waste ground.