Seasonal Wild Flowers

Latin name

Acanthus spinosus

Other names

Armed Bear’s-breech

Family

Acanthaceae

Flowering season

June to August

English distribution

It is widely planted throughout the country but less

commonly than the related Bear's-breech.

The escape is widely scattered but is more common in the

South, especially around London.

For a map see the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland –

Spiny Bear’s-breech

Habitat

It is a neophyte, which has been grown in England since

the late 1540s and known in the wild since the 1820s.

It grows and persists where it has been dumped from

gardens, e.g., on waste ground, in woods and hedge

banks, and beside roads and railways.

Description

Spiny Bear’s-breech is a perennial herb growing up to

1.5m.

The flowering spikes are up to 80m. 

Flowers are up to 5cm and composed of a corolla tube

of 4 fused purple sepals (a large upper and lower and 2

smaller laterals). 

The flower has a single lower lip which is 3-lobed and

white with purple veins.

There are 4 stamens but the anthers are fused in pairs.

There is a long style with a bifid stigma.

The flowers are in the axils of spiny bracts.

Fruits are capsules.

Leaves are large and spiny. They are more divided than

in Bear's-breech.