THE BULGARIAN FLORA ONLINE

Eryngium creticum

Crete Eryngo

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Common name

Crete Eryngo.

Scientific name

Eryngium creticum Lam.

Conservation status and threats

NOT protected species in Bulgaria¹.

Listed in the Red Data Book of Bulgaria to the category "Endangered"².

Description and identification

Eryngium creticum is an annual or biannual often blue violet plant.

Stem 25–70 cm.

Basal and lower cauline leaves 5–15 × 3–15 cm, petiolate, slightly coriaceous, entire or tripartite to 3-lobed, dentate; cauline leaves like basal, the uppermost with narrow segments, similar to the capitula bracts.

Inflorescence terminal, with rays bearing 30–100 capitula.

Capitula bracts 5–7, linear-lanceolate, pungent.

Capitula 0.5–1 cm in diameter, globose to broadly ovate, with numerous, congested flowers.

Petals white, oblong, longer than the calyx.

Fruits elliptical to obovate, consisting of the mericarps.

Flowering June-July³.

Habitat

Dry, grassy and stony places, on poor soils, mostly in xerothermic pastures dominated by Festuca valesiaca and shrubs. The populations are small, with scattered individuals and play a secondary role in plant communities. Intensive agriculture leads to reduction of the population size⁴.

Distribution in Bulgaria

Map of distribution in Bulgaria of Eryngium creticum by floristic regions (in green)⁵:

General distribution

Map of general distribution⁶ (green - native, purple - introduced):

References

1 Bulgarian Biodiversity Act in english.

2 Chavdar Gussev. 2015. In: Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria. Volume 1 - Plants & Fungi.

3 Chavdar Gussev. 2015. In: Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria. Volume 1 - Plants & Fungi.

4 Chavdar Gussev. 2015. In: Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria. Volume 1 - Plants & Fungi.

5 Стоянов К., Райчева Цв. & Чешмеджиев И. 2022. Определител на местни и чужди растения в България. Академично издателство на Аграрния университет, Пловдив. ISBN 978-954-517-313-4 www.botanica.gallery [публикуван на 25.06.2022, последна актуализация 01.07.2025] - CC-BY-NC-4.0.

6 Eryngium creticum Lam. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science.

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