Echinops polyceras, Echinops spinosus, Echinops blancheanus,
Globe thistle, Blanche Globe-Thistle,
Hebrew: קיפודן בלאנש, Arabic: شوك

Scientific name:		Echinops polyceras Boiss.
Synonym name:		Echinops spinosus auct non L., Echinops blancheanus Boiss.
Common name:		Globe thistle, Blanche Globe-Thistle
Hebrew name:		קיפודן בלאנש
Arabic name:		شوك
Family:		Compositae / Asteraceae, מורכבים

Life form:		Hemicryptophyte
Spinescence:		Leaves, bracts
Stems:		Up to 60–80 cm tall, very polymorphic
Leaves:		Alternate, rosette, dissected, pinnate, spinescent
Flowers:		Light blue, white, bracts spinescent
Fruits / pods:		Achene
Flowering Period:		June, July
Habitat:		Batha, Phrygana, Shrub-steppes, Desert, Hard rock outcrops
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:		Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:		Perennating

Derivation of the botanical name: Echinops, echinos, εχινοϛ, sea-urchin, hedgehog; opsis, like; in allusion to this herb's spiny, globe-shaped flower heads of metallic blue. polyceras, poly, many, numerous; -ceras, -horn, hornlike projection spinosus, thorny, spiny. blancheanus, blanche, white; -anus, belonging to, connected to, pertaining to; Whitish. The Hebrew name: קפודן, קיפודן, kipodan, "a hedgehog", for the flowers are arranged in a spherical inflorescence similar to a hedgehog (kipodan). The standard author abbreviation Boiss. is used to indicate Pierre Edmond Boissier (1810 – 1885), a Swiss botanist, explorer and mathematician. The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy. In the border area and deserts Echinops adenocaulos is replaced by Echinops polyceras. Echinops polyceras grows on limestone hills.