Echinops ritroL.

Southern Globe Thistlesouthern globethistle

WFO wfo-0000016873 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Echinops ritro, photographed by Силаева Татьяна Борисовна
fig. a Силаева Татьяна Борисовна, CC0 1.0 / 2021-09-18 / obs. 158232838
Echinops ritro, photographed by Josep Gesti
fig. b Josep Gesti, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 156617962
Echinops ritro, photographed by Елена Патерикина
fig. c Елена Патерикина, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 151263546
Echinops ritro, photographed by Nico
fig. d Nico, CC0 1.0 / obs. 150981869
Echinops ritro, photographed by Виктория Билоус
fig. e Виктория Билоус, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 149624232
Echinops ritro, photographed by Andrew Bazdyrev
fig. f Andrew Bazdyrev, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 155656000
Echinops ritro, photographed by David Delon
fig. g David Delon, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 149236840
Echinops ritro, photographed by Вячеслав Юсупов
fig. h Вячеслав Юсупов, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 147544487

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 32 botanical countries

Regions where Echinops ritro is native: Altay, East Aegean Is., Iran, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, North Caucasus, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, East European Russia, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Krym, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Romania, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine AltayEast Aegean Is.IranKazakhstanMongoliaNorth CaucasusTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanUzbekistanWest SiberiaXinjiangAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBulgariaCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaEast European RussiaFranceGreeceHungaryItalyKrymNW. Balkan Pen.PolandRomaniaSiciliaSouth European RussiaSpainTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine
Native distribution of Echinops ritro, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baltic States BLT
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
East European Russia RUE
France FRA
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
Krym KRY
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Romania ROM
Sicilia SIC
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
East Aegean Is. EAI
Iran IRN
Kazakhstan KAZ
Mongolia MON
North Caucasus NCS
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 11 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Echinops meyeri Iljin
  • Echinops ritro var. meyeri DC.
  • Echinops ritro var. ritro
  • Echinops ritro var. tenuifolius DC.
  • Echinops ruthenicus M.Bieb.
  • Echinops sartorianus Boiss. & Heldr.
  • Echinops siculus Strobl
  • Echinops tauricus Willd. ex Ledeb.
  • Echinops tenuifolius Fisch. ex Schkuhr
  • Echinops thracicus Velen.
  • Echinops virgatus Lam.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.