Seaholly Eryngium campestre

LATIN NAME: Eryngium campestre

COMMON NAME: Sea Holly

The sea holly holds its steely-blue heads on the stiff stems, and the spiny bracts catch the light of the dry bank. The upright, clump-forming, perennial plant carries the deeply cut, spiny-edged, grey-green leaves and the rounded, thistle-like, steely-blue or silvery flower heads on the stiff, branching stems through the summer, one of the fine, unusual sights of the dry garden, drawing the bees and the butterflies. The plant is a fine, bold presence of the dry border, and it is a plant of the open, sunny, sharp-draining ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The sea holly is a curious subject of the plant science, and the steely-blue heads keep showing up in the work on the dry-land perennials. The way the rounded, thistle-like flower heads hold the colour through the summer has been studied steadily, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the dry-land perennials, the bee plants and the members of the carrot family. The spiny-edged leaves and the stiff stems have also made it a fine study plant, and the sea holly is a regular subject of the work on the steely-blue heads of the dry world.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The sea holly is a fine, bold plant of the dry border and the gravel garden. The rounded, thistle-like, steely-blue or silvery flower heads open through the summer, one of the fine, unusual sights of the dry garden, drawing the bees and the butterflies, and the deeply cut, spiny-edged, grey-green leaves give the fine, bold rosettes of the plant. The plant stands the heat, the drought, the wind and the poor ground with the ease, and it is one of the fine choices for the dry border, the gravel garden and the study collection. It has been written about in the horticultural and the botanical papers for the steely-blue heads and the tough ways, and it is a fine, bold plant of the open, sunny, sharp-draining garden.

Give the young plants the sharp-draining soil and the open, sunny spot, and the heads will come in the second season.

To grow the sea holly from seed, sow the small, brown seeds on the surface of the gritty tray and press them in, keep the tray in a bright, open spot and water gently, then set the young plants out in the open ground. The seedlings appear within a few weeks and grow on steadily. With the sun and the sharp-draining ground, the steely-blue heads will rise through the summer.

Uses: Culinary/Medicinal

Grown for its roots which are both edible and medicinal