Botanical name: Echinops cornigerus    Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower family)
Synonyms: Echinops coriarius, Echinops polygraphus

Alpine Globe Thistle is a distinctly noticeable and rather handsome plant that grows in the Himalayas. They can be seen blooming just after the rains until the beginning of autumn. The flower heads are almost perfect spheres and made up of small closely packed pale blue to white flowers. In between these closely packed flowers sharp spines jut out. They are a little longer than the flowers. Before the flower blooms, it looks like a very spiny ball. The silvery-green leaves are pinnately divided into many segments. The edges of the leaves have sharp spines all along. The leaves are white-cottony beneath. Alpine Globe Thistle is found in the Himalayas, from Afghanistan to C. Nepal, at altitudes of 2400-3500 m. It is common in Ladakh. Flowering: July-September.

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The flower labeled Alpine Globe Thistle is ...