Jurinea pungens has long been known by its tough, linear and entire leaves ending in a rigid spine, which make it distinct from any other species of the genus. It is shown that material collected c. 70 km SW of the putative type locality of J. pungens belongs to a similar species new to science. Results obtained from molecular studies supported by morphological and palynological data show that these two species do not belong to Jurinea but form a group within Cousinia subg. Cousinia. J. pungens is therefore transferred to Cousinia and renamed C. argentea as the name C. pungens is in use for a different species. The closely related species new to science is described as C. kadereitii and illustrated. Since the two species do not fit into any of the existing sections of Cousinia, C. sect. Argenteae is described as a new section to accommodate them. A distribution map for the two species is provided.