Spiny bear's-breeches
Acanthus spinosus L.
- light
- Part sun
- water
- —
- tall
- 1.3 m
- wide
- 91 cm
Acanthaceae
Also called Spiny Bear's-breech, Bear's breeches, Spine acanthus
Formerly Acanthus spinosissimus, Acanthus spinulosus
When it flowers
Not known yet in the tropics: too few flowering observations to read a season from.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- PerennialKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- TemperateKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- SE. Europe to S. TürkiyeKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Part shade (3 to 6 h)Read from NC State Extension, one source
- Height
- 1.2 m to 1.4 mRead from NC State Extension and Wikipedia, checked: the middle of what its sources sayHalfway between its 2 sources, which differ. Sources differ: NC State Extension 3–4 ft; Wikipedia 150–150 cm
- Spread
- 76 cm to 1.1 mRead from NC State Extension and Wikipedia, checked: the middle of what its sources sayHalfway between its 2 sources, which differ. Sources differ: NC State Extension 3–4 ft; Wikipedia 60–90 cm
- Flowers
- WhiteRead from NC State Extension and Wikipedia, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension pink, purple, red, white; Wikipedia white
- Coldest it survives
- -17.8 °C (USDA zone 7a)Read from NC State Extension, one source
Not known yet: water, heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (12)
- French
- Acanthe épineuse
- Spanish
- acanto
- Dutch
- Doornige Acanthus, Stekelige Acanthus
- Czech
- paznehtník ostnitý
- Japanese
- トゲハアザミ
- German
- Stacheliger Bärenklau, Dorniger Bärenklau
- Estonian
- ogaline karusõrg
- Lithuanian
- Dygliuotasis akantas
- Russian
- Акант колючий
- Chinese (China)
- 刺叶老鼠簕
- Polish
- Akant kłujący
- Italian
- Acanto spinoso
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-25, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- NC State Extension, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikipedia, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA 4.0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- 3D model: Acanthus spinosus (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.