''Echinops ritro'', the southern globethistle, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the family

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

to southern and eastern Europe (from Spain east to Turkey, Ukraine, and Belarus), and western Asia. The species is sparingly naturalized in scattered locations in Canada and the United States. It is a compact, bushy

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 ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterized by leaves with sharp spikes on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. T ...

, growing to tall, with broad prickly leaves and bearing globes of steel-blue flowers 2.5 cm - 4.5 cm in diameter, in late summer. ''Echinops ritro'' and the subspecies ''E. ritro'' subsp. ''ruthenicus'' have gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

. ;Subspecies *''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. ''siculus'' (Strobl) Greuter *''Echinops ritro'' subsp. ''thracicus'' (Velen.) Kožuharov

References

ritro Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of Europe Flora of Asia {{Cynareae-stub