What is "fagonia cretica"

Thorny \Thorn"y\, a. [Compar. Thornier; superl. Thorniest.]

1. Full of thorns or spines; rough with thorns; spiny; as, a thorny wood; a thorny tree; a thorny crown.

2. Like a thorn or thorns; hence, figuratively, troublesome; vexatious; harassing; perplexing. ``The thorny point of bare distress.''
   --Shak.

   The steep and thorny way to heaven.
   --Shak.

   Thorny rest-harrow (Bot.), rest-harrow.

   Thorny trefoil, a prickly plant of the genus Fagonia ( Fagonia Cretica, etc.).

Fagonia cretica (, Virgin's Mantle) is a species of plant in the Zygophyllaceae, the Caltrop family, specifically the fagonbushes. It is found in Alicante province, Spain, the Balearic Islands, Crete, Malta, Cyprus and North Africa, from Morocco to Egypt.

The Manto de la Virgen is a plant of rocky coastlines, especially on Cabrera, Formentera, Ibiza, and Majorca of the islands. It is a creeping plant and has star-shaped, 5-narrow petal, violet to light violet flowers.

Another plant, known colloquially as Fagonia cretica, but actually Fagonia indica, is used as a local herbal remedy by Pakistani Punjabi women where the leaves are infused into a tea locally called Dramah.