Blue Globe Thistle vs Choke

Echinops bannaticus compared with Epichloe typhina

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Blue Globe Thistle	Choke
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Ascomycota (Sac Fungi)
Class	Mammalia (Mammals)	Sordariomycetes (Sordariomycetes)
Order	Afrosoricida (Afrosoricida)	Hypocreales (Hypocreales)
Family	Tenrecidae	Clavicipitaceae
Genus	Echinops	Epichloe
Species	Echinops bannaticus	Epichloe typhina

Conservation Status

Blue Globe Thistle

NE — Not Evaluated

Choke

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Blue Globe Thistle	Choke
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Blue Globe Thistle

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Found across Europe (11 countries) and North America (United States).

Choke

Habitat

Native to North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Found in United States.

Blue Globe Thistle

The Blue Globe Thistle (Echinops bannaticus) is a species in the genus Echinops. Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Choke (Epichloe typhina) is an endophytic and pathogenic fungus in the family Clavicipitaceae, phylum Ascomycota, that colonises the tissues of various cool-season grasses (Poaceae) across Europe and North America. The name refers to the disease it causes — infected grass tillers are typically 'choked' (prevented from flowering) when the fungus produces a dense, white to cream-coloured, stromata (a compact fungal structure) that surrounds the flowering stem before it can emerge, suppressing seed production. Epichloe species exist along a mutualism-parasitism continuum; some strains are biotrophic endophytes living almost entirely within grass tissues without obvious symptoms and conferring benefits to the host such as increased drought resistance and deterrence of herbivores through alkaloid production, while others — including E. typhina — are more parasitic in nature, sterilising infected host tillers. The fungus spreads via airborne ascospores produced on its stroma that infect new host plants. Related Epichloe/Neotyphodium endophytes are of great practical importance to agriculture as they produce ergot alkaloids and other compounds that can cause toxicosis in livestock grazing infected pasture grasses. As a fungal pathogen/endophyte rather than a wildlife species, it is Not Evaluated by the IUCN.