Flora of Israel: Blanche Globe-Thistle

Echinops polyceras, Echinops spinosus, Echinops blancheanus,Globe thistle, Blanche Globe-Thistle,

Hebrew: קיפודן בלאנש, Arabic: شوك

Scientific name:   Echinops polyceras Boiss.
Synonym name:   Echinops spinosus auct non L., Echinops blancheanus Boiss.
Common name:   Globe thistle, Blanche Globe-Thistle
Hebrew name:   קיפודן בלאנש
Arabic name:   شوك
Family:   Compositae / Asteraceae, מורכבים


Life form:   Hemicryptophyte
Spinescence:   Leaves, bracts
Stems:   Up to 60–80 cm tall, very polymorphic
Leaves:   Alternate, rosette, dissected, pinnate, spinescent
Flowers:   Light blue, white, bracts spinescent
Fruits / pods:   Achene
Flowering Period:   June, July
Habitat:   Batha, Phrygana, Shrub-steppes, Desert, Hard rock outcrops
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:   Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:   Perennating


Derivation of the botanical name:

Echinops, echinos, εχινοϛ, sea-urchin, hedgehog; opsis, like; in allusion to this herb’s spiny, globe-shaped flower heads of metallic blue.

polyceras, poly, many, numerous; -ceras, -horn, hornlike projection
spinosus, thorny, spiny.
blancheanus, blanche, white; -anus, belonging to, connected to, pertaining to; Whitish.
The Hebrew name: קפודן, קיפודן, kipodan, “a hedgehog”, for the flowers are arranged in a spherical inflorescence similar to a hedgehog (kipodan).

  • The standard author abbreviation Boiss. is used to indicate Pierre Edmond Boissier (1810 – 1885), a Swiss botanist, explorer and mathematician.
  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.

In the border area and deserts Echinops adenocaulos is replaced by Echinops polyceras.
Echinops polyceras grows on limestone hills.