Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 8, 2026

Echinops

Echinops is a genus of about 130 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, commonly known as globe thistles. They have spiny foliage and produce blue or white spherical flower heads. They are distributed from central Asia, Mongolia and north-eastern China to the Mediterranean basin, temperate regions of Eurasia, reaching to Indian subcontinent and tropical Africa. Globe thistles are a common host plant for weevils of the genus Larinus.

Last revised
Jun 8, 2026
Read time
≈ 3 min
Length
713 w
Citations
9
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Echinops
Echinops adenocaulos
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Spermatophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Subfamily: Carduoideae
Tribe: Cardueae
Subtribe: Echinopsinae
Dumort.
Genus: Echinops
L.
Species

About 130 species, see text

Echinops /ˈɛkɪnɒps/1 is a genus of about 130 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, commonly known as globe thistles. They have spiny foliage and produce blue or white spherical flower heads. They are distributed from central Asia, Mongolia and north-eastern China to the Mediterranean basin, temperate regions of Eurasia, reaching to Indian subcontinent and tropical Africa.23 Globe thistles are a common host plant for weevils of the genus Larinus.4

Characteristics

Illustration of globe thistle Echinops sphaerocephalus source ↗

Source:5

Vegetative characteristics

The globe thistle species are perennial herbaceous plants. They form rhizomes as perennial organs. The independently upright stems are angular. The alternately arranged leaves are one to two-pinnately divided and white, woolly and tomentose on the underside.

Generative features

Echinops ritro source ↗

The capitulas are single-flowered, have a hermaphrodite tubular flower and are surrounded by a multi-rowed sheath. Numerous capitulas form spherical inflorescences of the second order, which have a diameter of 4 to 8 centimeters. The capitulas bloom from top to bottom within a head. The corolla is tubular, divided almost to the base. The flower color is steel blue to white, the inflorescences as a whole are usually bluish. The stamens are blue-gray. The achenes are cylindrical, pentagonal and hairy. The pappus has short scales.

Human uses

Many species belonging to the genus Echinops are traditionally used as medicinal herbs in Africa, Asia and Europe. More than 151 natural products have been reported from this genus, many of which contain an unusual alkyne- and thiophene-containing structure. Various extracts, essential oils, and isolated compounds from members of this genus have been shown to have anti-microbial, cytotoxic, and anti-inflammatory effects in vitro.6

Echinoynethiophene A is one such compound isolated from Echinops grijsii source ↗

However, there are a number of species in this genus that are claimed to have traditional medicinal uses but their chemical composition has not yet been evaluated.7

Echinops plants have been traditionally employed in folk medicine to treat inflammation, pain, fever, cough, and sore throat; as an aphrodisiac; to facilitate expulsion of a retained placenta postpartum; as an abortifacient; and in the management of uterine tumors and leucorrhoea.89

Selected species

Species include:

References

References

  1. Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
  2. RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 978-1405332965.
  3. Montazerolghaem, Somayeh; Susanna, Alfonso; Calleja, Juan Antonio; Mozaffarian, Valiollah; Rahiminejad, Mohammad Reza (2017). "Molecular systematics and phylogeography of the genus Echinops (Compositae, Cardueae–Echinopsinae): Focus on the Iranian centre of diversification". Phytotaxa. 297 (2): 101. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.297.2.1.
  4. Skuhrovec, Jiří; Volovnik, Semyon; Gosik, Rafał (2017-06-12). "Description of the immature stages of Larinus vulpes and notes on its biology (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Lixinae)". ZooKeys (679): 107–137. Bibcode:2017ZooK..679..107S. doi:10.3897/zookeys.679.12560. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 5523399. PMID 28769711.
  5. "Echinops in Flora of North America @ efloras.org". www.efloras.org. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
  6. Bitew, Helen; Hymete, Ariaya (2019-11-01). "The Genus Echinops: Phytochemistry and Biological Activities: A Review". Frontiers in Pharmacology. 10: 1234. doi:10.3389/fphar.2019.01234. ISSN 1663-9812. PMC 6838032. PMID 31736749.
  7. Bitew, Helen; Hymete, Ariaya (2019-11-01). "The Genus Echinops: Phytochemistry and Biological Activities: A Review". Frontiers in Pharmacology. 10: 1234. doi:10.3389/fphar.2019.01234. ISSN 1663-9812. PMC 6838032. PMID 31736749.
  8. Ghasemi, Pirbalouti A.; Momeni, M.; Bahmani, M. (2013). "Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by Kurd tribe in Dehloran and Abdanan districts, Ilam province, Iran". African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines. 10 (2): 368–385. doi:10.4314/ajtcam.v10i2.24. PMC 3746586. PMID 24146463. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
  9. Okello, Jimmy; Ssegawa, Paul (2007). "Medicinal plants used by communities of Ngai Subcounty, Apac District, northern Uganda". African Journal of Ecology. 45: 76–83. Bibcode:2007AfJEc..45S..76O. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2028.2007.00742.x.