Echinops sphaerocephalus

Echinops sphaerocephalus, known by the common names glandular globe-thistle,^[2] great globe-thistle^[3] or pale globe-thistle, is a Eurasian species of globe-thistle belonging to the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae.

Echinops sphaerocephalus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Echinops
Species:	E. sphaerocephalus
Binomial name
Echinops sphaerocephalus L.
Synonyms[1]
Synonymy Echinops maximus Siev. ex Pall. Echinops altaicus Hort. ex DC. Echinops cirsiifolius K.Koch Echinops cirsiifolius (K.Koch) Grossh. Echinops erevanensis Mulk. Echinops horridus Link Echinops macedonicus Formánek Echinops major St.-Lag. Echinops multiflorus Lam. Echinops paniculatus J.Jacq. Echinops villosus Hort. ex DC. Echinops viscosus Rchb. Echinopus sphaerocephalus (L.) Scop. Echinops albidus Boiss. & Spruner, syn of subsp. albidus Echinops taygeteus Boiss. & Heldr., syn of subsp. taygeteus

Description

flowers, with bee

Echinops sphaerocephalus is a glandular, woolly perennial herbaceous plant with an average height of 50–100 centimetres (20–39 in), occasionally reaching 200 cm (80 inches).^[4]

Its erect branching, gray, slightly wrinkled and hairy stems bear the occasional large, soft, sharply toothed, sharp-lobed pointed green leaves. They are sticky hairy above, and white woolly below.^[4]

Atop each stem is an almost perfectly spherical inflorescence up to 6 cm in diameter, packed with white or blue-gray disc florets. It flowers from June until September.^[4][5]

The flowers are pollinated by insects (usually bees, wasps and butterflies) (entomogamy) and are hermaphrodite (self fertilization or autogamy). The fruits are hairy cylindrical achenes about 7 to 8 mm long. They ripen from September through October. The seeds are dispersed by wind (anemochory).^[4]

Distribution

This species is widespread across much of Eurasia but it lives on other continents where it was introduced, including North America where it is a widespread weed.^[4][6][3] It is very common in the mountains of southern France and southern and central Europe.^[7]

Habitat

It grows in sunny, rocky or brushy places in more or less mineral rich soils at an altitude of 0–400 metres (0–1,312 ft) above sea level.

Subspecies^[1]

• Echinops sphaerocephalus subsp. albidus (Boiss. et Spruner) Kozu.
• Echinops sphaerocephalus subsp. sphaerocephalus
• Echinops sphaerocephalus subsp. taygeteus (Boiss. & Heldr.) Kožuharov

Gallery

• 
  Illustration of Echinops sphaerocephalus from Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz, 1885
• 
  Close-up on flowers of Echinops sphaerocephalus
• 
  Inflorescence of Echinops sphaerocephalus pollinated by a butterfly
• 
  Leaf of Echinops sphaerocephalus