Acanthus ilicifolius L.

Shrubs to 2 m tall, erect. Stems stout, scarcely branched, glabrous, often with stipulelike spines at nodes. Petiole 3-6 mm, thick, glabrous; leaf blade oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 6-14 × 2-5 cm, glabrous, secondary veins 5-7 on each side of midvein, base cuneate, margin pinnatifid and with few large spines, serrate, or subentire, apex truncate. Spikes terminal, to 16.5 cm; bracts broadly ovate, 7-8 mm, caducous; bracteoles ovate, ca. 5 mm, leathery. Calyx posterior and anterior lobes 1-1.3 cm, margin scarious and sometimes crispate, apex emarginate; lateral lobes ovate, ca. 1 cm, margin entire. Corolla white [bluish to pinkish], 3-4 cm; tube ca. 6 mm; lip obovate, 2.2-3 cm, thinly leathery, outside with soft trichomes, apex 3-cleft. Stamens equal; filaments ca. 1.5 cm; anther theca with a line of trichomes on both sides of suture. Style ca. 2.2 cm. Capsule 2.5-3 cm. Seeds light yellow, reniform. Fl. Feb-Mar, fr. Aug-Sep. 2n = 44, 48.

A gregarious plant that is very common along the banks of estuaries and lagoons, and in marshy land and mangroves close to the seashore. It is rarely found inland..

Can be grown by seedlings.