Since the beginning of July, flowers appear in the form of white-bluish globes in meadows, beams, wastelands and forbs. The bees hover over them all the time. This plant is a mordovnik sharogolovy or a hedgehog, one of the best honey plants.
Botanical description
Mordovnik sharogolovy - plant of the Aster family. It is a perennial plant, distributed in the steppe regions of Ukraine, in the Caucasus, South-Western Siberia, in Central Asia.
It is a tall, up to 2 m, herbaceous plant, with a straight stem branching towards the top. The root is massive, pivotal. Leaves are elongated, prickly, pinnately dissected.
The upper part of the leaf is dark green, fleecy, lower - whitish, fluffy-rough. Flowers blue and white, to blue, are collected in inflorescences in the form of spiny balls, up to 5 cm in diameter.
Up to 350 flowers are collected in the inflorescence, and up to 30 inflorescences grow on the stem. Fruit - oblong, strongly elongated achene up to 8 mm, covered with hairs. Seeds are combined into dense balls-inflorescences. 
In the first year, this plant forms a rosette of leaves up to 70 cm. In the second year, it grows a stem that branches and blooms. This honey plant blossoms since the beginning of July, flowering lasts up to 40 days. Flowers remain open during daylight hours.
Honey properties
In terms of its flowering mordovnik - honey plant of the second half of summer. Nectar in a flower stands out very abundantly, it is generated by nectaries in the depth of a flower and comes out through the conical opening of the corolla.
It happens that nectar covers all the inflorescence. In a drought, nectar-bearing does not stop, although it decreases to half, and at normal humidity and temperature above 25 ° C some flowers have up to 6 mg.
The best honey plants include: clover, bruise, cilantro, reseda, bird cherry, mint, sunflower, rape, linden, lungwort, heather, marjoram.
The nectar of the plant is colorless, transparent with a slightly spicy, pleasant aroma. The sugar content in nectar reaches 70%. A large inflorescence allows several bees to feed from it simultaneously and its attendance can reach up to 180 per hour.
The total honey productivity of the sharogolovy Echinops is extremely high, depending on the external conditions it can be from 0.6 to 1.2 tons of honey per hectare.
Honey is obtained transparent, light, yellow or amber-colored. It has excellent taste and delicate floral aroma with a touch of spicy.
Did you know? Echinops can also be attributed to oilseeds, because its seeds have a high percentage (up to a ton per hectare) of high-quality aromatic oils with healing properties.
Where to plant mordovnik?
Mordovnik sharogolovy - undemanding plant in relation to the soil and planting sites, and in relation to agricultural engineering in general. Almost any soils are perfect for him, except for marshy, wet areas where the risk of rotting of the roots occurs.
It can be planted in any uncultivated areas near the apiary, on the slopes of ravines, among shrubs, in meadows, forest glades and other inconveniences. 
To achieve greater honey content, it is desirable to choose calcareous chernozem or well-fertilized clay soils. Fallow or steam fields are excellent after potatoes, corn or wheat, but it must be remembered that mordovnik is a perennial plant.
Seed growing rules
Echinops grown from seeds, they are the easiest to collect yourself. The collection is carried out in the second half of August and in September. Mature seeds can be distinguished by the fact that after separation from the stem, their inflorescence crumbles into separate seeds.
If you didn’t manage to get the necessary quantity right away, then the uterine part is planted first, and then seeds are collected on it for mass sowing.
Did you know? It is possible, starting from the second year, to mow the Eve in the end of spring, then its flowering will begin later - somewhere in the middle of August and last all September, it helps a lot when building bees before winter.
Sowing
Mordovnik sharogolovy - a sustainable plant, growing from seeds is usually carried out in the spring, when the soil surface warms up to 12 ° C, although it can be planted for the winter, then autumn and winter precipitation will cover the seeds and provide the necessary conditions for germination.
Seeds are sown in dug or plowed land. When small areas make grooves or nests 15-25 cm apart, sow seeds mixed with sawdust and cover with earth.
When large areas are sown in two rows, 30-75 cm arcs from each other, using a cultivator, and then rolled. Since the seeds are covered with hairs and interlock with each other, sowing is easier to carry out manually. When sowing, it is recommended to apply fertilizers like superphosphate, 50 kg / ha. 
Important! Instead of fertilizers, you can sow mordovnik with phacelia, in the ratio of 8: 5, this annual plant enriches the earth with nitrogen, grows rapidly and is also a honey plant.
Germination of this honey plant is high, so even a simple spreading of seeds will bring results.
Sowing care
As well as landing, caring for mordovnikom is simple. Soil moisture should be moderate; stagnant water should be avoided. After the plants are fully grown, it is thinned, and where necessary, transplanted. Aisle can be cultivated to a depth of about 7 cm and weed weeds.
Care features
Mordovnik sharogolovy, this is a perennial, unpretentious, resistant to drought and cold plant, this causes the care of him. For the first year, care is limited to periodic weeding.
In the spring of the second year, it is necessary to loosen the aisles to a depth of 10 cm. After ripening and harvesting the seeds before the third and subsequent years, the plants are cut at a height of 5 cm. 
When grown on poor, clay soils, in the second and subsequent years, nitrogen fertilizers can be applied in the spring.
Medicinal properties
Mordovnik is not only a highly productive honey plant, but also a medicine. From its seeds receive alkaloid echinopsin.
Honey obtained from mordovnik, tinctures and decoctions help with headaches, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, paralysis, paresis, radiculitis, and recovery of motor functions associated with the CNS and PNS. It is useful for heart disease, heart attack, restores the elasticity of the walls of blood vessels, normalizes blood pressure.
Important! Echinopsin is an alkaloid similar to strychnine. Although it is less toxic, it causes convulsions, disturbance and spasm of the respiratory system in large doses, therefore in 1990 it was excluded from the range of drugs. Therefore, even tinctures and decoctions of mordovnik should be taken by prescription.
Mordovnik sharogolovy - cost-effective plant with a lot of advantages. He is a honey plant with good performance, and over the years it only grows.It is easy to care for and grow, is not afraid of drought and cold, has valuable healing properties. High quality oil is obtained from its seeds. Formed plantation will bear fruit for up to 15 years.
Plants of the first year serve as an excellent, highly productive feed for livestock, especially sown with annual plants. In addition to all this, he also has a decorative value, perfectly looking at the alpine hills and shrub groups on lawns.
