Echinops ritro
Species of flowering plant in the daisy family
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Echinops ritro, the southern globe thistle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to southern and eastern Europe, from Spain east to Turkey, Ukraine, and Belarus, and western and central Asia east to Mongolia.[1][2] The species is also sparingly naturalised in scattered locations within North America.[3][4]
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| Echinops ritro | |
|---|---|
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| Echinops ritro subsp. ritro in Torà, Segarra-Catalunya, Spain | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Embryophytes |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Genus: | Echinops |
| Species: | E. ritro |
| Binomial name | |
| Echinops ritro L. 1753 not Georgi 1775 | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Synonymy
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Description
It is a compact, bushy herbaceous perennial thistle, growing to 60 cm (24 in) tall, with broad prickly leaves and bearing globes of steel-blue flowers 2.5–4.5 cm (1.0–1.8 in) in diameter, in late summer.[5]
Taxonomy
Five subspecies are accepted by the Plants of the World Online database:[1]
- Echinops ritro subsp. meyeri (DC.) Kožuharov
- Echinops ritro subsp. ritro
- Echinops ritro subsp. ruthenicus (M.Bieb.) Nyman
- Echinops ritro subsp. sartorianus (Boiss. & Heldr.) Kožuharov
- Echinops ritro subsp. thracicus (Velen.) Kožuharov
Additionally, one variety is accepted, but without specification as to which subspecies it belongs to:[1]
- Echinops ritro var. elbursensis (Rech.f.) Parsa
Cultivation
Echinops ritro[6] and the subspecies E. ritro subsp. ruthenicus[7] have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Plants previously reported as naturalised in Great Britain are mostly or all the related species Echinops bannaticus.[8]
