Syn.: Echinops multiflorus Lam., Echinops paniculatus Jacq., Echinops cirsiifolius C. Koch, Echinops viscosus Wierzb. in Griseb. et Schenk
Family: Asteraceae Bercht. et J. Presl
Distribution: Native probably of Southern Europe and southern parts of Central Europe, Caucasus and Southern Siberia. Now naturalized in almost all Central Europe and Northern America.
Ecology: It grows in wasteland, quarries, ditches, by roadsides, in lower altitudes of milder regions. Blooms from July to September.
Description: A perennial herb with an erect and white-woolly stem, 60–220 cm high. The basal leaves are petiolate, up to 70 cm long, stem ones sessile, lanceolate, pinnatelobed and spiny toothed. The flowers aggregated into a dense globose heads, florets bluish or white, tubular. The fruit is an achene.
Note: This plant is often used in floral decoration, it is a melliferous plant.
These images were taken in Czechia, Moravia, Trkmanice (July 24, 2005).
