Four Cynara cardunculus clones, two from Portugal and two from Spain were studied for biomass production and their lignin was characterized. The clones differed in biomass partitioning: Spanish clones produced more capitula (54.5% vs. 43.9%), and Portuguese clones more stalks (37.2% vs. 25.6%). The heating values (HHVo) of the stalks were similar, ranging from 17.1 to 18.4 MJ/kg, Lignin was studied by analytical pyrolysis (Py-GC/MS(FID)), separately in depithed stalks (stalks(Dp)) and pith. Stalks(Dp) had in average higher relative proportions of lignin derived compounds than pith (23.9% vs. 21.8%) with slightly different lignin monomeric composition: pith samples were richer in syringyl units as compared to Stalks(Dp) (64% vs. 53%), with S/G ratios of 2.1 and 1.3, respectively. The H:G:S composition was 7:40:53 in Stalks(Dp) and 7:29:64 in pith. The lignin content ranged from 18.8% to 25.5%, enabling a differentiation between clones and provenances. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.