Thapsia

Thapsia villosa is a stout perennial herb of the Apiaceae family standing 50-200 cm tall, arising from a thick, fleshy, branching taproot up to 50 cm long that exudes an acrid resinous yellowish latex. The stem is solitary, erect, terete, finely striate and glabrous to softly hairy above. The basal leaves are large, long-petiolate, three- to four-pinnatisect with rigid, narrowly oblong to ovate-toothed ultimate segments 5-15 mm long, dark green above, paler and densely soft-pubescent beneath (whence the epithet villosa); stem leaves are progressively reduced and short-petiolate with inflated sheathing bases. The terminal inflorescence is a very large compound umbel 15-30 cm across, with 15-25 stout rays bearing secondary umbellules, generally without involucral bracts. Florets are small, with five bright golden-yellow petals about 1.5 mm long. The fruit is a conspicuous flattened obovate-oblong schizocarp 10-15 mm long, with broad pale-membranous lateral wings and prominent dorsal vittae, ripening pale straw to brownish. Native to the western Mediterranean from Portugal and Morocco through Spain to southern France and the Maghreb, on dry rocky hillsides, garrigue and open pinewoods.