Southern globe thistle
A spiny plant of dry stony slopes with steel-blue globe heads; a good midsummer nectar source worked intensively by honey bees.
- Nectar
- Good
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 0.3-0.8 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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Southern globe thistle is a perennial of the daisy family growing on dry, stony, calcareous slopes from southern Europe to Anatolia and Central Asia. Its blue spherical heads consist of hundreds of small tubular flowers, each a separate flower; because the nectar sits in short tubes, honey bees visit it very intensively. Its pollen contribution is moderate.
Flowering
It flowers for 4-6 weeks in July-August, when the summer dearth is at its worst. The heads open in sequence from the top downwards.
Honey and pollen
No honey is produced under its own name; it contributes to highland and wildflower multifloral honeys. Turkey has many Echinops species, known locally by names such as 'topuz' (mace) or 'kirpi otu' (hedgehog herb).
Note for the beekeeper
It is very well suited to dry, unirrigated gardens and apiary surroundings; once established it needs no care. Its larger and more productive relative, the great globe-thistle (Echinops sphaerocephalus), is sown in Russia as an important honey plant.