ACANTHUS SPINOSUS

Family and Genus:- See- ACANTHACEAE

Common Name:- Spiny bear's breeches

Homotypic Synonyms:- Acanthus spinosissimus, Acanthus spinulosus

Meaning:- Acanthus (Gr) Spiny, thorny.

Spinosus (L) Spine.

General description:- Stout, medium to tall perennial.

Stem:-

1) To 80 cm, occasionally taller. Erect, simple, terete.

Leaves:-

1) Glabrous to subglabrous

2) Basal, 20-60 x 5-15 cm, oblong, pinnatifid or pinnatisect, margins spinose-

dentate

3) Upper cauline, 1-3 cm, more or less ovate. spinose-dentate, sessile.

Flowers:-

1) In dense, terminal, cylindrical spikes.

2) Corolla, 3·5-5 cm. 1-lipped (upper lip absent), 3-lobed, tube short. whitish with

purple veins.

3) Bracts, large, c. 4 cm. ovate. usually glabrous.

4) Bracteoles, entire, lanceolate to linear.

5) Calyx, 4-lobed. upper and lower lobes large. lateral small.

6) Stamens, 4, included.

7) Anthers 1-celled, united in pairs.

Fruit:-

1) Capsule, loculicidal with jaculators

Key features:-

1) Basal leaves, pinnatifid to pinnatisect.

2) Corolla, 1-lipped.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Meadows, roadsides, woodland margins, abandoned cultivation,

sometimes forming large colonies.

Distribution:- Italy, the Balkans, Crete and Turkey. Widespread and common on

Crete.

Flowering time:- May-July.

Photo by:- Steve Lenton