Kentrophyllum Necker ex Candolle.

Herbs, annual or perennial. Leaves pinnatilobed, pinnatisect, or undivided, margin usually spiny. Capitula homogamous, 1 to several at end of stem and branches. Involucre ovoid or narrowly ellipsoid. Outer phyllaries leaflike, rigid, spinosely toothed; inner phyllaries thin, sometimes with apical appendages. Florets bisexual. Stigmatic branches short. Achene ivory, ovoid, oblanceolate, or obpyramidal, 4-angled, glabrous, usually rugose toward apex, apex with a rim; outer achenes often without pappus; inner achenes usually with a persistent or connate and deciduous pappus. Pappus elements in many rows or absent.

Carthamus lanatus Linnaeus is cultivated as an ornamental in the Beijing area and Shaanxi.

About 47 species: C and SW Asia, Europe, Mediterranean region; one species (introduced) in China.

(Authors: Shi Zhu (石铸 Shih Chu); Ludwig Martins)