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Asteraceae FAMILY Least Concern

Carlina gummifera

Carlina gummifera

Edibility
1/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

Carlina gummifera contains the toxic diterpenoid glucosides atractyloside and carboxyatractyloside - these compounds can cause severe poisoning and are lethal in around 50% of cases of severe poisoning. The root is much more toxic than the leaves and flowers[1]. Despite the plant’s well-known toxicity and herbalist’s knowledge of the great danger of this plant, its ingestion continues to be a common cause of poisoning. Children and shepherds especially will chew the root after confusing it with the soft and non-toxic root of Scolymus hispanicus (there were 240 severe poisoning cases in Morocco between 1981 and 2004). The toxic effects are hepatic necrosis and renal failure. Symptoms of poisoning appear 6 - 36 hours after ingestion and include vomiting; severe abdominal pain; blackish diarrhoea; headaches; cardiovascular disorders; anxiety; and coma. No specific pharmacological treatment is yet available (2005) and current therapeutic approaches are only symptomatic[2].

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial
Growth—

Carlina gummifera is a plant of the Mediterranean region, where it experiences hot dry summers and cool, wet winters. It can be grown outside this climate - it grows well, flowers and sets viable seed at Bristol Botanical Gardens in southwest England for example, where the climate is much moister and winters are colder Prefers a moist to well drained substrate, growing in sandy and mostly clay soils but also found in other types of deep soils, growing in full sun to mid-shade habitats[2]. A monocarpic plant, living for a number of years without flowering, but then dying after it does flower.

Propagation

Seed - sow early spring in a greenhouse or cold frame. When large enough to handle, prick out the seedlings into individual pots and grow them on in the cold frame until they are planted out in early summer. Alternatively, the seed can be sown in situ in mid to late spring. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Carlina+gummifera>

Pollinators

Insects, Wind

References

  1. [1]Toxic effect of some medicinal plants used in Moroccan traditional medicine — Mohamed Bnouham; Fatima Zahra Merhfour; Mostafa Elachoui; Ab · 2006 ↩︎
  2. [2]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  3. [3]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  4. [4]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  5. [5]Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. — Polunin. O. · Oxford University Press · 1969 · ISBN 0192176218 ↩︎An excellent and well illustrated pocket guide for those with very large pockets. Also gives some details on plant uses.
  6. [6]Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. — Chiej. R. · MacDonald · 1984 · ISBN 0-356-10541-5 ↩︎Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.
  7. [7]Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. — Bean. W. · Murray · 1981 · ISBN - ↩︎A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.
  8. [8]Plants for Man. — Schery. R. W. ↩︎Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.
  9. [9]Vegetable Gums and Resins. — Howes. F. N. · Faber · ISBN 81-88818-17-8 ↩︎A very good book dealing with the subject in a readable way.
  10. [10]Economic Botany. — Hill. A. F. · The Maple Press · 1952 · ISBN - ↩︎Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some detail about the plants it does cover.
  11. [11]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  12. [12]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  13. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎