Warionia is a genus in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae. The only known species is Warionia saharae, an endemic of Algeria and Morocco, and it is locally known in the Berber language as afessas, abessas or tazart n-îfiss. It is an aromatic, thistle-like shrub of ½–2 m high, that contains a white latex, and has fleshy, pinnately divided, wavy leaves. It is not thorny or prickly. The aggregate flower heads contain yellow disk florets. It flowers from April till June. Because Warionia is deviant in many respects from any other Asteraceae, different scholars have placed it hesitantly in the Cardueae, Gundelieae, Mutisieae, but now genetic analysis positions it as the sister group to all other Cichorieae.
Warionia
The Cichorieae are a tribe in the plant family Asteraceae that includes 93 genera, more than 1,600 sexually reproductive species and more than 7,000 apomictic species. They are found primarily in temperate regions of the Eastern Hemisphere. Cichorieae all have milky latex and flowerheads that only contain one type of floret. The genera Gundelia and Warionia only have disk florets, while all other genera only have ligulate florets. The genera that contain most species are Taraxacum with about 1,600 apomictic species, Hieracium with about 770 sexually reproducing and 5,200 apomictic species, and Pilosella with 110 sexually reproducing and 700 apomictic species. Well-known members include lettuce, chicory, dandelion, and salsify.
Cichorieae