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Echinops ritro |
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Small Globe Thistle |
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 3-8 |
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Southern Europe |
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Stiffly erect perennial primarily of gravelly slopes and
sunny wastelands |
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3-4 feet tall with a 2-5 feet width |
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Heads 1½-2 inches wide, dark blue, on tomentose peduncles, outer bristle-like bracts
about half as long as the acuminate inner
bracts. The flower heads provide a nice color
long before the actual flowers open, which
prolongs the flowering season. |
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Summer for 6-8
weeks |
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Alternate, pinnatifid into lanceolate,
acuminate, spinose-toothed segments, the upper
surface rough and setose and deep green the
lower surface white tomentose, basal leaves much
larger and petioled. Leaves are thistle-like
with spiny tips. |
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Tolerates hot
climates |
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- 'Taplow BIue' - Steel blue
flower heads with a silvery overcast, up to 3 inches
in diameter. Plants are 4-5 feet tall.
- 'Taplow Purple' - Violet-blue flowers which are
not as ornamental as those of 'Taplow Blue'.
- 'Veitch's BIue' - Steel blue flowers which are
darker than 'Taplow Blue'. There are numerous
flower heads on stems 3-3½ feet tall.
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Echinops in
Greek means “like a hedgehog” and refers to the
spiny involucral bracts. |
