Stats

Lifespan

Perennial

Size

Medium

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Temperate grassland

Range

Eurasia

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Seeds

Defense

Spines

Status

Uncommon

About

This prickly perennial grows in the dry, rocky meadows of southern Europe. Its spherical flower heads are covered in hundreds of tiny, individual metallic blue florets.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Asterales

Family

Asteraceae

Genus

Echinops

Species

Echinops ritro