Gundelia
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Gundelia or tumble thistle is a low to high thistle-like perennial herbaceous plant with latex, spiny compound inflorescences, reminiscent of teasles and eryngos, that contain cream, yellow, greenish,
Gundelia tournefortii 2
Small plant in flower
Tumbleweed stage
Inflorescence
Leonhard Rauwolf
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Leonhard Rauwolf was a German physician, botanist, and traveller. His main notability arises from a trip he made through the Levant and Mesopotamia in 1573–75. The motive of the trip was to search for
Gundelia
…oils, with large proportions (20–25% each) of thymol and germacrene-D. As far as known, the tumble thistle was first collected during an expedition by Leonhard Rauwolf (1573–1575), and this specimen can now be found in the National Herbarium in Leiden, the Netherlands. Tournefort, Von Gundelsheimer and Claude Aubriet…
The front page of Rauwolff's travel book dated 1582
Leonhard Rauwolf: "Aigentliche Beschreibung der Raiß inn die Morgenländer." First edition, Lauingen, 1582. Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin