|
||||||
| Home | Start key | Fact sheets | Glossary | Common flowers | ||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Eryngium L.Apiaceae |
||||||
Common names
sea holly Species cultivated
Eryngium alpinum L. E. amethystinum L. E. bourgatii Gouan E. giganteum Bieb. E. planum L. E. yuccifolium Michx. Origin
Europe to central Asia, and eastern U.S. (E. yuccifolium). Brief characterization
Spiny, silvery, branched stems bearing congested, spiky heads of sessile flowers; head subtended by involucre of spiny, toothed bracts; calyx of 5 stiff sepals, usually conspicuously spine-tipped; 5 petals; styles exserted. Cultivar and/or species variation
Inflorescences silvery white, blue, or lavender; involucral bracts 3 to 15 or more, ovate or lanceolate to linear and varying in degree of marginal serration and spininess; heads hemispherical to ovoid or cylindrical; hemispherical heads ca. 1-2 cm diam., cylindrical heads to 5 cm long; involucral bracts usually exceeding head, ca. 1.5-6 cm long. May be confused with
Eryngium may mistakenly be thought to be in the Asteraceae, but examination of the flowers in the head will show it is not in this family. Countries exporting
Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.  |
