deep, rich, but disturbed clayey soils in sunny or lightly shaded positions, such as fallowed or abandoned fields, ditches and roadsides. It generally only occurs below 700 m altitude, and along the coast, where there are less than 15 frost days. In Israel it occurs in woodlands and shrublands, steppes, and desert, but also in the montane vegetation on Mount Hermon. Flowers are present between May and August. The hermaphrodite flowers are pollinated by insects. References Neglected horticultural crops - Scolymus maculatus External links Cichorieae Flora of Western Asia Flora of Macaronesia Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus