Echinops

In the novels, echinopsae are depicted as animals (not man-eating plants, as in the game). They are described as monsters covered in long and very sharp spines. They can shoot these up to a distance of ten feet. On impact, the spines shatter and the pieces work their way ever deeper into the body of the victim. Their spines are so long that when they are immobile, echinops resemble clumps of grass.

Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec, a mammal in the real world.

In The Witcher computer game[ | ]

Echinops

Details
Occurrence	Echinopsae grow in places where crimes have been committed or on the graves of the victims of such crimes
Immunity	Immune to any effects which influence the mind (fear, stun, Axii sign); they feel no pain and can neither be poisoned, blinded, knocked down nor bled to death
Susceptibility	Echinopsae are sensitive to silver and highly susceptible to incineration attempts
Tactics	Echinopsae are rooted to the ground, but they shoot with poisoned thorns
Alchemy	Echinops rootstock spores

Unlike the novels, Echinopsae in the game are huge, carnivorous plants. see also Archespore

Journal Bestiary Entry[ | ]

"Echinopsae are monstrous plants born of curses which grow in places where terrible crimes have been committed if the crime in question was never atoned for. The beasts try to take their vengeance on criminals, but they do not spare the lives of innocents who haplessly enter their territory."

Location[ | ]

Cave under the city walls in the Outskirts
Swamp
Swamp cemetery

Sources[ | ]

In Chapter I, an "Old woman" in the Outskirts will tell Geralt a tale of Echinops in exchange for food. The conversation does result in a bestiary entry.
Curses and the Cursed

Notes[ | ]

Their remains will not contain Echinops Rootstock unless you have this bestiary entry.
Like a lot of the floral life presented in the game and the books, Echinops can be found in the real world, too: it is the genus of both the daisy family Asteraceae and Madagascarian mammal family Tenrecidae.