ECHINOPS SPINOSISSIMUS subsp. BITHYNICUS

Family:- COMPOSITAE/Sect. RYTRODES

Common Names:- Spiny Globe-thistle

Synonyms:- Echinops bithynicus, Echinops viscosus subsp. bithynicus.

Meaning:- Echinops (Gr) Resembling an Hedgehog.

Spinosissimus (L) Most spiny.

Bithynicus (L) From Turkey.

General description:- Perennial or annual.

Stem:-

1) 50-80 cm, branched, densely arachnoid-tomentose and glandular-hairy.

Leaves:-

1) Ovate-lanceolate in outline, usually 2-pinnatisect, with simple, glandular hairs

above, more or less glandular-hairy on the veins beneath.

2) Segments triangular to broadly lanceolate, with short, slender marginal spines.

Flowers:-

1) Inflorescence 4-7 cm in diam, blue or greenish-blue.

2) Involucre, 25-40 mm; setae equalling or slightly shorter than the outer bracts.

3) Bracts, 20, glabrous; outer bracts spathulate, acuminate or subulate distally,

dentate, not more than ½ as long as capitulum.

4) Middle bracts lanceolate, long-spinose, equalling the outer, with marginal

spines twice as long as the capitulum or absent.

5) Corolla, pale blue.

Fruit:-

1) Achenes with tufts of stiff hairs.

2) Pappus-setae connate at base.

Key features:-

1) Involucre 25-40 mm, blue or greenish-blue.

2) Middle involucral bracts long-subulate.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Dry grassland, roadsides, fallow fields. 0-1000 m.

Distribution:- Sicily and Greece eastwards, including Crete and Cyprus. On Crete

confined more to the east of the island.

Flowering time:- Mid-May to Aug.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton