Echinops
(from echinos, hedgehog, and ops, appearance; in reference to the spiny scales of the involucre). Globe Thistle. SYN. Echinanthus. ORD. Compositoe. A rather large genus of ornamental, but somewhat coarsegrowing, mostly hardy biennials or perennials, with a Thistle-like appearance. Inflorescence globose; florets white or blue, with an involucre of prickly scales and bristles. The cluster of heads or capitules is surrounded by an involucre of linear scales, thus completing the appearance of a single head. They are of very easy culture in common garden soil, and form excellent subjects for borders, or for naturalising in shrubberies. The biennials may be propagated by seed, sown in April; the perennials by division, in March. E. banaticus (Banat). fl.-heads blue. Summer. l. roughish, pubescent above, downy beneath; radical ones pinnate; upper ones pinnatifid; lobes oblong, acuminated, spiny, slightly sinuated. h. 2ft. to 3ft. Eastern Europe, 1832. Slightly branching. Biennial.
E. commutatus (changed). fl.-heads whitish. Summer. l. pinnatitid, rough with hairs on the upper side, downy beneath; margins with small spines. h. 5ft. to 7ft. Austria, &c., 1817. Perennial. SYN. E. exaltatus. E. exaltatus (lofty). A synonym of E. commutatus.
E. Ritro (Ritro). fl. blue. Summer. l. pinnatifid, not spinescent, downy beneath, webbed above. h. 3ft. South Europe, 1570. Perennial. (B. M. 932.) E. R. ruthenicus (Russian). fl.-heads blue. Summer. l. alternate, leathery, pinnatifid; divisions toothed and spiny; dull green above, cottony beneath. Stem downy. h. 3ft. to 4ft. Eastern Europe and Western Asia, 1816. Perennial. E. sphaerocephalus (globe-headed). fl.-heads pale blue. Summer. l. sinuate-pinnatifid, spinose, green and hairy above, white or grey-felted beneath. Stems erect, striated, branched. h. 1ft. to 4ft. Europe, Western Asia.