Echinops strigosus L.

Seedling

Cotyledons large, 28-35 x 8-15 mm, thick, elliptic with rounded to slightly indented apex, with visible main vein, petiolate, glabrous. The primordial leaves are rosette-shaped, linear, slightly rolled at the edges, toothed and bristling with prickles, tomentose white, petiolate. The hypocotyl axis is short. Light green seedling.

Adult plant

Echinops strigosus is an annual, spiny plant with an upright habit. The stem is stiff, white, tomentose and cylindrical, reaching a height of 90 cm. The stem leaves are petiolate, tripinnate, with segments rolled up at the edges and terminated by spines that are not very intrusive; the stem leaves are sessile, pennate, white and tomentose on the lower face, green and covered with yellow spiny hairs on the upper face. Inflorescence a large spherical head, 4.5-8.5 cm in diameter, spiny (from the Greek echinos = hedgehog, ôps = appearance). Capitula with only tubular, violet-blue florets, the outer scales of the pericline coriaceous, with hard cilia on the edges, except on the innermost ones where they are silky; these are fused. Achenes oblong, pentagonal, 7-10 mm long, silky, with a cup of free, scabrous scales.

Origin

Echinops strigosus is native to the Ibero-Maghreb region.

Worldwide distribution

A typically Mediterranean species found in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Spain, Portugal and Italy.

In Algeria it is a common species in the fields and pastures of the Tell oranais.

https://www.gbif.org/species/5392672