Eryngium heldreichii
Eryngium heldreichii, the Mediterranean sea holly, in Turkish gelenkuş, is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to Turkey and Lebanon-Syria.
Description and habitat
An Eryngo with a number of upright stems. Near the bases are many complex, smallish leaves that persist past flowering. The stems branch sparsely in the higher parts into a narrow display of 3-13 flower heads. The flowering parts mature greyish, although the flowers themselves are blue, and appear Jul-Oct. Each flower head is surrounded by 7-12 slender spine-leaves, usually unequal and curving down somewhat, larger than the flower heads, and within a head each small flower is attended by a small simple spine. It naturally grows on rocky limestone slopes at high altitude. .It is closely related to Eryngium bourgatii and used to be counted as its subspecies, E. bourgatii having shorter bracts with fewer veins and ovoidish heads, and longer bracteoles; and to Eryngium davisii whose stem leaves have spiny broad stalks