Family: Asteraceae
Centaurea calcitrapa
Citation:
L., Sp. Pl. 917 (1753).
Synonymy: Not Applicable Common name: Star thistle, two-star thistle.
Description:
Annual or biennial to 100 cm high; stem densely divaricate-branched, terete, striate, pubescent; basal leaves oblanceolate, pinnatipartite with lanceolate serrate lobes, to 20 cm long, pubescent or slightly woolly when young, glandular, with prominent pale veins, withering before flowering; lower cauline leaves lanceolate and pinnatifid to lyrate, 1.5-8 cm long, 1-3 cm wide, dark-green, scabrous; uppermost leaves entire, narrowly lanceolate to linear, 2-4 mm wide.
Capitula solitary, 8-12 mm diam.; involucre subovoid, 10-15 mm long; bracts ovate, pale, glabrous; appendages with a straight patent terminal spine 10-25 mm long and 1-3 pairs of spinules 3-4 mm long at the base, straw-coloured; outer florets erect; corollas pale-purple or pink.
Achenes c. 3 mm long, pallid, streaked brown; pappus absent.
Published illustration:
Parsons (1973) Noxious weeds of Victoria, p. 56.
Distribution:
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Scattered on roadsides, waste land and pastures; occasional in arable land.
S.Aust.: NU, FR, EP, NL, MU, YP, SL, SE. W.Aust.; N.S.W.; Vic.; Tas. Native to southern and central Europe.
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Conservation status:
naturalised
Flowering time: most of the year.
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SA Distribution Map based
on current data relating to
specimens held in the
State Herbarium of South Australia
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Biology:
No text
Author:
Not yet available
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