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Acanthus spinosus
Also called Bear's breeches, Spiny Bear's Breech, Spiny Bear's Breeches
Spiny bear's breech is a hardy herbaceous perennial from southern Europe and western Turkey, grown for its spiny, deeply cut leaves and tall spikes of white flowers with maroon bracts. It thrives in sunny, well-drained conditions in a border.
Acanthus spinosus, the spiny bear's breech, is a species of flowering plant in the family Acanthaceae, native to southern Europe, from Italy to western Turkey. It is an herbaceous perennial growing to 150 cm (59 in) tall by 60–90 cm (24–35 in) wide. The deeply cut leaves have spiny margins, and in early summer it bears erect, 1 m (3 ft) long racemes of white flowers with maroon bracts.
It is thought that both A. spinosus and close relative A. mollis were introduced to Britain from the Mediterranean by the Roman Empire. It has been intermittently cultivated ever since, and is now a regular feature of the herbaceous border. For centuries, stone or bronze stylized versions of acanthus leaves have appeared as decoration on certain styles of architecture and furniture.
Acanthus arboreus · Acanthus austromontanus · Acanthus carduaceus · Mountain Thistle · Acanthus dioscoridis · Acanthus · Acanthus eminens · Acanthus flexicaulis · Acanthus gaed · Acanthus guineensis · Syrian Acanthus · Hungarian Bear’s Breeches
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Acanthus spinosus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
