2. Echinops exaltatus Schrad. (syn.: E. commutatus Juratzka) (SE-Eur.) – A rare, locally naturalised escape from cultivation. First collected in the wild in Val Benoît (Liège) in 1926. Known from widely scattered localities but most are in Wallonia. Perhaps best known from the valley of river Bocq (Bauche, Crupet, Evrehailles, Fumy, Yvoir,…; see Duvigneaud 1978). Here naturalised, often in abundance, since at least 1942. Also well-documented from Fonds-de-Leffe where it is known since 1933. Recently also spreading in the valley of river Meuse (Saintenoy-Simon & Duvigneaud 1999). Much rarer and probably often merely ephemeral in Flanders (although there seem to be a lot of recent records; see www.waarnemingen.be). Recently, for instance, confirmed from a former railway track in Halen (2009).
Echinops exaltatus is naturalised in alluvial meadows (often rather nitrophilous and damp), clearings in woods or shady road verges. In more artificial habitats (railway sidings, dumps, wasteland) it is usually an ephemeral alien.
Nearly all records of Echinops sphaerocephalus from the past decades proved to belong with E. exaltatus. Both are usually easily distinguished (presence or absence of sessile glands on leaves and stems) but a more or less intermediate hybrid has been recorded in Germany (Hügin & Lohmeyer 1993). The presence of such hybrids might considerably complicate the identification of both species.
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Selected literature:
Duvigneaud J. (1978) Une vallée mosane à protéger : la basse vallée du Bocq (nouvelle commune du Grand Yvoir, province de Namur. Nat. Mosana 31(2): 57-83.
Hügin G. & Lohmeyer W. (1993) Bastardbildung und intraspezifische Sippengliederung bei Echinops sphaerocephalus (Asteraceae, Cardueae) in Mitteleuropa. Willdenowia 23: 83-89.
Lawalrée A. (1959) Eupatorium rugosum Houtt. et Echinops commutatus Jaratzka adventices en Belgique. Rev. Verviét. Hist. Nat., 16: 22-24.
Pohl H. (1992) Quelques observations floristiques effectuées dans le sud de l’Entre- Sambre-et-Meuse. Nat. Mosana 45(2): 68-71.
Saintenoy-Simon J. & Duvigneaud J. (1999) Excursion à Bois Laiterie, Annevoie-Rouillon et Houx. Adoxa 23: 13-19.
Townsend C.C. (1965) Echinops commutatus Juratzka. Bot. Soc. Brit. Isles Proc. 6: 124-125.