Carduncellus mitissimus

Perennial of the Asteraceae family, Carduncellus mitissimus is a species of the causses and dry calcareous grasslands of southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula, where it colonizes stony soils, fine screes, and well-drained rockeries, generally at low and medium altitudes. Its epithet mitissimus, "the softest", refers to the almost total absence of spines, surprising in a genus related to thistles.

It forms small rosettes applied to the ground, practically acaulescent, 5 to 15 cm in height. The leaves are narrow, slightly dissected, grayish-green, with finely ciliated but non-spiny margins. Each rosette directly bears its capitula, almost sessile, nestled in the heart of the foliage.

The capitula are a bright and delicate violet-lilac, consisting of all similar tubular flowers, forming a dense ball bristling with great geometric precision. Seen up close, the dark styles emerge from the corollas in fine contrasting points.

In its natural habitat, its flowering extends from June to July.

It requires a calcareous, perfectly drained, poor and dry soil, in full sun. It withstands summer drought well and does not tolerate excess winter moisture. It is a plant of choice for calcareous rockeries and Mediterranean dry gardens.