''Eryngium armatum'', known by the common names coastal eryngo and prickly coyote thistle, is a species of flowering plant in the family

Apiaceae Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plants ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the coastline of northern and central

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where it grows along beaches and coastal bluffs. Many populations are in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

Description

''Eryngium armatum'' is a low

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 ...

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

growing patches of thick green to yellow-green leaves, each long and straight, sometimes with serrated or toothed edges. Atop stout stems are

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 ...

s of spiky flower heads each nearly a centimeter wide. Each is surrounded by seven or eight long, sharp-pointed

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s about two centimeters long, and sometimes more layers of bractlets on top. The tiny white to purplish flowers are tucked between the layers of bracts.

External links

Calflora Database: ''Eryngium armatum'' (Coastal eryngo, Coyote thistle, Prickly coyote thistle)Jepson eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Eryngium armatum''USDA Plants ProfileUC CalPhotos gallery of ''Eryngium armatum''
armatum Endemic flora of California Taxa named by John Merle Coulter Taxa named by Sereno Watson Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Apiaceae-stub