''Echinops sphaerocephalus'', known by the common names glandular globe-thistle,
great globe-thistle
[ or pale globe-thistle, is a ]Eurasia
Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...
n species of globe-thistle belonging to the tribe Cardueae
The Cardueae are a tribe of flowering plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae) and the subfamily Carduoideae. Most of them are commonly known as thistles; four of the best known genera are '' Carduus'', '' Cynara'' (containing the widely eaten ar ...
within the family Asteraceae
The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...
.
Description
''Echinops sphaerocephalus'' is a glandular
In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland).
Structure
De ...
, woolly perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
herbaceous
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"
The fourth edition of t ...
plant with an average height of , occasionally reaching 200 cm (80 inches).[Flora of China, 蓝刺头 lan ci tou ''Echinops sphaerocephalus'' Linnaeus]
/ref>
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.[
Atop each stem is an almost perfectly ]spherical
A sphere () is a geometrical object that is a three-dimensional analogue to a two-dimensional circle. A sphere is the set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three-dimensional space.. That given point is the ce ...
inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...
up to 6 cm in diameter, packed with white or blue-gray disc florets
Disk or disc may refer to:
* Disk (mathematics), a geometric shape
* Disk storage
Music
* Disc (band), an American experimental music band
* ''Disk'' (album), a 1995 EP by Moby
Other uses
* Disk (functional analysis), a subset of a vector spac ...
. It flowers from June until September.insects
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...
(usually bees, wasps and butterflies) (entomogamy
Entomophily or insect pollination is a form of pollination whereby pollen of plants, especially but not only of flowering plants, is distributed by insects. Flowers pollinated by insects typically advertising in biology, advertise themselves wi ...
) and are hermaphrodite
In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes.
Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...
(self fertilization or autogamy
Autogamy, or self-fertilization, refers to the fusion of two gametes that come from one individual. Autogamy is predominantly observed in the form of self-pollination, a reproductive mechanism employed by many flowering plants. However, species o ...
). The fruits are hairy cylindrical achene
An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...
s about 7 to 8 mm long. They ripen from September through October. The seeds are dispersed by wind (''anemochory'').[
]
Distribution
This species is widespread across much of Eurasia
Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...
but it lives on other continents where it was introduced, including North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
where it is a widespread weed.[Flora of North America, Great globe-thistle, boulette commune, ''Echinops sphaerocephalus'' Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 814. 1753. ]
/ref> It is very common in the mountains of southern France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and southern and central Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.Altervista Flora Italiana, Cardo pallotta maggiore, drüsige Kugeldistel, bolltistel, ''Echinops sphaerocephalus'' L.
includes photos and European distribution map
Habitat
It grows in sunny, rocky or brushy places in more or less mineral rich soils at an altitude of above sea level.
;Subspecies[
*''Echinops sphaerocephalus'' subsp. ''albidus'' (Boiss. et Spruner) Kozu.
*''Echinops sphaerocephalus'' subsp. ''sphaerocephalus''
*''Echinops sphaerocephalus'' subsp. ''taygeteus'' (Boiss. & Heldr.) Kožuharov
]
Gallery
File:Illustration Echinops sphaerocephalus0.jpg, Illustration of ''Echinops sphaerocephalus'' from Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz, 1885
File:Asteraceae_-_Echinops_sphaerocephalus.JPG, Close-up on flowers of ''Echinops sphaerocephalus''
File:Asteraceae - Echinops sphaerocephalus-3.JPG, Inflorescence of ''Echinops sphaerocephalus'' pollinated by a butterfly
File:Asteraceae - Echinops sphaerocephalus-2.JPG, Leaf of ''Echinops sphaerocephalus''
References
External links
*
*
ASTERACEAE, SUNFLOWER FAMILY
The Jepson Manual, University of California
United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile
Ontario Weeds
alterVISTA
Czech Botany
{{Taxonbar, from=Q930849
sphaerocephalus
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Flora of Europe
Flora of Asia