How do you recognise Field eryngo (Eryngium campestre)?

Leaf

Christian Tuffal, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0

Field eryngo

Eryngium campestre L.

Also known as: Field sea holly, Watling Street thistle

Family: Apiaceae

20 to 60 cm tall

Dry meadows, banks, gardens, poor free-draining soils

Flowering: July – September

Full sun

Hardy to -25°C

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

The whole plant, spiny and rigid like a thistle, takes on a characteristic metallic silvery-blue tint. Sea holly has thick, fleshy, blue-grey foliage, adapted to coastal dunes, whereas field eryngo has finer, green, rigid leaves, typical of dry inland wasteland.

🍃 Leaves

Rigid, deeply cut, spiny, silvery grey-green

🌸 Flowers

Small blue-grey umbels surrounded by prickly bracts

🍎 Fruits

Small scaly achenes

🪵 Bark

Rigid clump, spiny branched stems

🗺️ Distribution

Europe, western Asia, North Africa; common in dry meadows and calcareous banks in France.

🐝 Value for pollinators

Blue-green flower heads rich in nectar, attractive to bees and various insects in summer.

✂️ Horticultural uses

Dry beds, rock gardens, gravel gardens; graphic spiny silhouette, also used as a dried flower.

⚠️ Possible toxicity

No known toxicity; spiny foliage that can injure when touched.

⚠️ Look-alike species

Field eryngo

Eryngium campestre

Sea holly

Eryngium maritimum

Sea holly has thick, fleshy, blue-grey foliage, adapted to coastal dunes, whereas field eryngo has finer, green, rigid leaves, typical of dry inland wasteland.

🌿 Other Apiaceae to discover

ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.

🌱 This database is constantly evolving — species and information are added and corrected regularly. Spotted a mistake? Report it below.