Globe Thistle vs

Echinops exaltatus compared with Microbotryum scorzonerae

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Globe Thistle
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)
Class	Mammalia (Mammals)	Microbotryomycetes (Microbotryomycetes)
Order	Afrosoricida (Afrosoricida)	Microbotryales (Microbotryales)
Family	Tenrecidae	Microbotryaceae
Genus	Echinops	Microbotryum
Species	Echinops exaltatus	Microbotryum scorzonerae

Conservation Status

Globe Thistle

NE — Not Evaluated

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

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

Habitat & Geographic Range

Globe Thistle

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Found across Europe (13 countries) and North America (Canada, United States).

Habitat

Native to Europe, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Microbotryum scorzonerae is a smut fungus specifically parasitizing Scorzonera and related plants in the daisy family. It replaces the pollen and ovules of host plants with dark spore masses, reducing host reproduction. This highly specialized pathogen inhabits grasslands and steppe environments where its Scorzonera hosts occur.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 4 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden