Echinops exaltatus, the Russian globe thistle or tall globethistle,[2] is European species of globe thistle in the family Asteraceae.

It is native to central and eastern Europe from Germany and Italy east into Russia.

[3] The species has escaped cultivation and become established in the wild in scattered locations in eastern Canada and the northern United States.

[4] Echinops exaltatus is the largest of all globe thistles, a branching perennial herb up to 150 cm (60 inches or 5 feet) tall.

One plant can produces several flower heads, each with a very nearly spherical array of white or pale blue disc florets but no ray florets.