This plant has rhizomatous roots, overwintering buds situated just below the soil surface (hemicryptophyte)[2] and an almost leafless stalk growing directly from the ground (scapose).

The leaves are alternate, sessile or amplexicaul and lobed with spines on the margins.

[3] The yellow flowers are terminal, 2.0–3.5 cm (0.8–1.4 in) in diameter and surrounded by thorny bracts.

The flowers are hermaphrodite and are pollinated by insects (usually bees, wasps and butterflies) (entomogamy).

[4] This plant is native to the Mediterranean and it is present in Albania, Balearic Islands, Bulgaria, Corsica, Crete, France, Greece, Spain, Italy, former Jugoslavia, Sardinia, Sicily and Turkey.