Foto: Stefan Svenaeus
Foto: Stefan Svenaeus
Foto: Stefan SvenaeusSea-holly
Scientific name: Eryngium maritimum
Förekomst: Rare
895/5000
Sea-holly is a blue-gray, thorny, perennial seaweed plant found on the shores of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. It is rare and occurs sparingly on sandy beaches by the sea from Bohuslän to Gotland and Öland. On Öland, it is found on the sandy beaches of northwestern Öland.
Sea-holly blooms in July-August with small bluish flowers. The flowers are gathered in almost round heads. Sea-holly most closely resembles a thistle, but the actual thistles belong to a different plant family.
The first find is from the year 1741 when Linnaeus found the species on Öland "wid Byrums sand ofwan for Horns Ladugård, on Hafsstranden".
The species name maritimum comes from the Latin mare (sea) and refers to the species growing by the sea. The family name Eryngium was already used by Theophrastus, 300 BC. about a thorny medicinal plant.
The genus has about 230 species, only the species martorn is native to Sweden. Several other species of martorns are grown as ornamentals.
Sea-holly hittar du på följande platser: