The spherical heads of this globe thistle can be admired on the Systematic Beds.
A member of the Asteraceae (daisy family) the genus Echinops (globe thistle) contains approximately 120 species of annuals, biennials and perennials. In the wild they occur in gravel areas and dry grasslands of Europe, the Mediterranean, central Asia and tropical Africa. They are well-suited to sunny, well-drained positions, but are also valuable food sources for pollinators, and especially bees. They have spiny leaves, are often hairy or woolly, and produce globular heads of many individual flowers. E. sphaerocephalus is a vigorous perennial growing to 2m in height from Eurasia. It has spiny, grey-green leaves and downy stems, and the terminal, sphere-shaped flowerheads can be up to 6cm in diameter, and are studded with a mass of tiny white flowers. The genus takes its name from the Greek ‘echinos’, or hedgehog, in reference to the spiny appearance of the flowerhead.