the.com/sea holly
the spiky blue rebel that fakes thistle vibes while secretly being a carrot
means A spiny, blue-tinged coastal plant of the genus Eryngium that grows in sand and dunes, resembling a thistle but actually belonging to the carrot family.
from The "sea" comes from its salty seaside haunts, and "holly" from its sharp, prickly, holly-like leaves — though it's no relation to true holly. Its botanical name, Eryngium, descends through Latin from Greek 'eryngion', the name for a spiny plant, which itself may trace to 'erungos' or be linked to words for the prickly beard of the plant. The English everyday name simply married the place it lives to the spikes it wears.
- family
- Belongs to the carrot and parsley clan
- metallic blue
- Stems glow steel-blue without any pigment trick
- taproot
- Drills meters deep into shifting coastal dunes
- candied roots
- Victorians sugared them as aphrodisiac sweets
- salt-proof
- Thrives where seawater would kill most plants
eryngium maritimum — native spiky blue flowering plant found along european coastal cliffs and beaches
eryngium yuccifolium — north american species with yucca-like leaves, common in prairie wetlands from canada to texas