Echinops ritro

Echinops ritro
Echinops ritro subsp. ritro in Torà, Segarra-Catalunya, Spain
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
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]
Synonymy
  • Echinops tauricus Willd. ex Ledeb.
  • Echinops tenuifolius Fisch. ex Schkuhr
  • Echinops meyeri (DC.) Iljin, syn of subsp. meyeri
  • Echinops ruthenicus M.Bieb., syn of subsp. ruthenicus
  • Echinops virgatus Lam., syn of subsp. ruthenicus
  • Echinops sartorianus Boiss. & Heldr., syn of subsp. sartorianus
  • Echinops siculus Strobl, syn of subsp. siculus
  • Echinops thracicus Velen., syn of subsp. thracicus

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 sparingly naturalised in scattered locations in Canada and the United States.[3][4]

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 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]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Echinops ritro L." Plants of the World Online. 2020-08-02. Retrieved 2025-09-04.
  2. ^ "Flora Italiana". Echinops ritro [Cardo pallottola meridionale] (in Italian). Retrieved 2025-09-04.
  3. ^ Flora of North America, Echinops ritro Linnaeus
  4. ^ Biota of North America Program, 2014 county distribution map
  5. ^ RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 978-1405332965.
  6. ^ "RHS Plant Selector - Echinops ritro". Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  7. ^ "RHS Plant Selector - Echinops ritro subsp. ruthenicus". Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Blue Globe-thistle Echinops bannaticus Rochel ex Schrad". PlantAtlas. Retrieved 2025-09-05.


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