Common name:
Sea holly
Family:
Scientific name:
Eryngium maritimum
Main flower color:
Range:
Coastal areas of England, Wales, Ireland and west Scotland
Height:
Between 30 cm and 60 cm
Habitat:
Sandy or pebbly locations, right beside the coast
Flowers:
Purplish-blue, five-lobed, closely-spaced, in single, hemispherical umbels, subtended by a whorl of bracts. Individual flowers also have bracts, divided about half way along into three spiny lobes
Leaves:
Basal and cauline, greyish, hairless, holly-like, lined by spiny lobes and crossed by white, palmate veins
Season:
July to September
Rarity:
★★★★★
