Echinops ritro (southern globethistle) is a species of flowering plant in the sunflower family, native to southern and eastern Europe (from Spain east to Turkey, Ukraine, and Belarus), and western Asia. The species is sparingly naturalized in scattered locations in the United States. Echinops ritro is a compact, bushy herbaceous perennial thistle, growing to 60 cm (24 in) tall, with broad prickly leaves and bearing globes of steel-blue flowers 2.5 cm - 4.5 cm in diameter, in late summer.