ech…

the greek word for sea urchin is αχινός (achinos). the greek word for hedgehog is ἐχῖνος (echinos). the latin word for both is echinus. and so these flowers with their urchino-hedgehogish spiny centers are called, as every visitor to an herbal supplement store already knows: echinacea. But the association i just realized tonight is that there is a hedgehog-like animal that every parent of a nature-loving child knows by heart: the adorable and very strange echidna, and so we have come full circle from ancient greece to modern-day australia.

coneflowers (Echinacea)