Echinops sphaerocephalus subsp. albidus (Boiss. & Spruner) Kožuharov

Posted byTrajche DimitrovskiPosted inCompositae, Plant families

Taxonomy: Fam. Compositae// Genus: Echinops// Species: Echinops sphaerocephalus L.// Subspecies: Echinops sphaerocephalus subsp. albidus (Boiss. & Spruner) Kožuharov.

Determined according to the botanical key provided by Kožuharov (1976 in Tutin et al.).

Lifeform: Perennial plant. Hemicryptophyte according to the Raunkiær system.

Distribution: E. sphaerocephalus L. is native from Europe to Central Siberia, Xinjiang (China) and Arabian Peninsula; E. sphaerocephalus subsp. albidus is native to the Balkan Peninsula according to the Plants of the World Online portal (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew). According to The Euro+Med Plantbase (Greuter, 2006+), subsp. albidus is also native to the Asiatic Part of Türkiye.

Habitat:  Dry and open habitats- rocky terrains, hill pastures.

Flowering period: Late summer (AUG, SEP).

Locality: Hilly region near Kochani. Date: 10.07.2020.

Echinops sphaerocephalus habit in habitat (left) and habitat (right). Southern foot of Osogovo near Kochani, 10.07.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Echinops sphaerocephalus – habit. Southern foot of Osogovo near Kochani, 05.07.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Echinops sphaerocephalus – upper part of stem with inflorescences. Southern foot of Osogovo near Kochani, 05.07.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Echinops sphaerocephalus – inflorescence with developing capitula. Southern foot of Osogovo near Kochani, 05.07.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Echinops sphaerocephalus – inflorescence. Southern foot of Osogovo near Kochani, 10.07.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Echinops sphaerocephalus – flowering inflorescence with capitula. Southern foot of Osogovo near Kochani, 05.08.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Echinops sphaerocephalus (flowering inflorescence). Southern foot of Osogovo near Kochani, 29.08.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Echinops sphaerocephalus (stem with cauline leaves). Southern foot of Osogovo near Kochani, 05.07.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Echinops sphaerocephalus – stem with cauline leaves. Southern foot of Osogovo near Kochani, 10.07.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Echinops sphaerocephalus – stem with cauline leaves. Southern foot of Osogovo near Kochani, 10.07.2020. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski

Scaled image of capitula.

Echinops sphaerocephalus – capitula. Scale in mm. Specimen from southern foot of Osogovo near Kochani. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski

References:

Echinops albidus Boiss. & Spruner. Plants of the World Online portal, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:202397-1 [Accessed 04.09.2026].

Echinops sphaerocephalus. Greuter, W. 2006+: Compositae (pro parte majore). – In: Greuter, W. & Raab-Straube, E. von, Compositae. Euro+Med PlantBase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Published at https://europlusmed.org/. https://europlusmed.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/f8a20158-9f94-4435-a1b8-51ea2fcdd37c [Accessed 04.09.2026].

Echinops sphaerocephalus L. Plants of the World Online portal, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:202677-1 [Accessed 17.01.2022].

Echinops sphaerocephalus subsp. albidus. Greuter, W. 2006+: Compositae (pro parte majore). – In: Greuter, W. & Raab-Straube, E. von, Compositae. Euro+Med PlantBase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Published at https://europlusmed.org/. https://europlusmed.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/3b05d689-3ccd-482b-a1d7-ff7b2ee51478 [Accessed 04.09.2026].

Kožuharov, S. 1976. Echinops L. In Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A. (eds.), Flora Europaea. Volume 4. Plantaginaceae to Compositae (and Rubiaceae). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 212–214.

Last update: 09.04.2026.