Notobasis syriaca (L.) Cass. (syn.: Cirsium syriacum (L.) Gaertn.) (Medit., SW-As.) – A very rare and ephemeral alien. Recorded in 1909 in Virton near a grain storage and in 1950 in Robertville at the ruins of the Rheinhardstein castle. In 2014 a single plant was seen at a grain storage in the Antwerp port area (Amerikadok).
Notobasis syriaca has white-marbled leaves like Silybum marianum and are otherwise also superficially similar. Confusion between those species is not unlikely. They are readily distinguished on pappus characters: pappus hairs are plumose in Notobasis, while they are not in Silybum. Also, involucral bracts are more or less erect in Notobasis, while they are recurved in Silybum.
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