Cirsium eriophorum

Perennial of the Asteraceae family, this species is present in central and southern Europe, from the British Isles to the Balkans and Anatolia, with a good representation in France, particularly in the limestone regions of the center and south. It occupies dry lawns, rocky embankments, roadsides, edges, and poor meadows, generally on limestone substrate, from the plains up to about 1,800 meters in altitude.

It is a tall plant, reaching 80 to 150 centimeters in height, with a thick, erect stem that is strongly branched in its upper part. The leaves are very deeply pinnately lobed, with lobes ending in long, robust spines, green on the upper side and whitish tomentose underneath, giving the whole a contrasting bicolored appearance.

The most spectacular feature of the species lies in its capitula, among the largest of the genus in Europe: voluminous, almost spherical, they can exceed five centimeters in diameter and are enveloped in a dense, bright white woolly felt formed by the involucral bracts, giving them a very recognizable cottony appearance. The tubular flowers are bright purplish-pink.

In its natural habitat, its flowering extends from July to September.

In cultivation, it prefers a well-drained, calcareous soil in full sun. Biennial or short-lived monocarpic, it self-seeds spontaneously. Spectacular in the background of a natural massif or a reconstituted dry meadow.