Crete Weed (Hedypnois cretica)

Hedypnois rhagadioloides, Cretanweed, or scaly hawkbit, is a species of plant in the dandelion tribe within the sunflower family. It is native to the Mediterranean Region and neighboring areas from Canary Islands to Iran,[4] and naturalized in Australia and in parts of the Americas (southwestern United States, Baja California in Mexico, central Chile).

It is a thorny annual herb with flower stalks up to 40 centimeter (16 inches) stall, most of the leaves gathered around the base resembling the common dandelion except for the bristles. Leaves are green or purplish, up to 18 centimeters (7.2 inches) long. The plant produces a flower stalk with one single flower head or a flat-topped array of several heads. The head has rows of phyllaries that may be very bristly, and the head is egg-shaped when still closed. Each head contains 8-30 yellow ray flowers but no disc flowers.