Cousinia Thomsonii

A rare and most unusual plant bearing disproportionately-large, erect pink or purple flower heads with spherical, spiny, woolly-haired involucres. The erect spiny cottony stems hold deeply pinnately-lobed spiny leaves, white and cottony beneath. Rarely seen or offered, this high altitude herbaceous plant is found on stony ground in the Himalayas from Afghanistan to West Nepal and Tibet, at altitudes of 3000-4200 m, where it flowers in July and August.