Bear's Breeches

Description:

Acanthus mollis reaches on average 30–80 centimetres. Basal clusters of deeply lobed and cut, shining dark green leaves, soft to the touch, with a long petiole. The inflorescence is a long cylindrical spike and can produce up to 120 flowers. The flowers are tubular, whitish, lilac or rose. The calyx has two lips, the upper is purple on the top, rather long and forms a kind of "helmet" on top of the corolla. The corolla is reduced to a white lower lip, trilobed, with a purple-pink vanation. The four stamens are fused to the corolla and look like tiny brushes. This species flowers in late spring or early summer, from May through August. Acanthus mollis is entomophilous and it is pollinated only by bees or bumble bees large enough to force the passage between the upper sepal and the lower.

Habitat:

This plant is native to the Mediterranean region from Portugal and northwest Africa east to Croatia and it is one of the earliest cultivated species. This garden plant is also quite common in the wild. It grows in dry areas, roadsides and wastelands, especially in the rocky and bushy places. It is tolerant of drought and shade and generally does not exceed an altitude of 300 metres above sea level.