Nick Upton / Spiny globe thistle (Echinops spinossissimus) flowering in limestone mountains, near Kosmas, Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece, August.

Fabrice Cahez / Blue hedgehog flower (Echinops ritro) Causse Mejean, France, July.

Nick Upton / Spiny globe thistle (Echinops spinosissimus), Crete, Greece, July.

David Pattyn / Globe Thistle (Echinops ritro), dead in winter landscape with Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) silhouet behind, Gran Paradiso national park, Italian Alps, Italy, January

Fabrice Cahez / Southern globethistle (Echinops ritro) flower, Lozere, France, July.

Roland Seitre / Lesser hedgehog tenrec (Echinops telfairi) in hand. Captive, endemic to Madagascar.

Fabrice Cahez / Thistle flower (Echinops bannaticus) Aubrac, Auvergne, France, July.

Cyril Ruoso / Globethistle (Echinops sp) flowers, Kyrgyzstan

Silvia Reiche / Map Butterfly (Araschnia levana) on Globe Thistle (echinops ritro), Hoogeloon, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands

Silvia Reiche / Green-veined White (Pieris napi) butterfly on Globe Thistle (Echinops ritro), Hoogeloon, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands

Silvia Reiche / Green-veined White (Pieris napi) butterfly on Globe Thistle (Echinops ritro), Hoogeloon, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands

Ingo Arndt / Globethistle (Echinops sp) flower, eastern Mongolia

Linda Pitkin / Blue globe-thistle (Echinops bannaticus) Walton Downs, Surrey, England, August.

Linda Pitkin / Blue globe-thistle (Echinops bannaticus) Walton Downs, Surrey, England, August 2018.