A genus of spiky, thistle-like flowering plants in the carrot family, with distinctive blue or white umbrella-shaped flower clusters.
From Greek eryngion, the plant name used by ancient Greek physicians. The plant was valued medicinally in antiquity. The scientific genus name preserves this ancient Greek root.
Sea holly (Eryngium maritimum) was historically harvested on European beaches and candied as a luxury treat for the wealthy—what we'd call a vegetable root became a sweet delicacy through medieval ingenuity and sugar imports.
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