Centaurea macrocephala Muss.Puschk. ex Willd.

Bighead knapweed (en), Centaurée à grosse tête (fr), Centaurée (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Asterales > Asteraceae > Centaurea

Characteristics

Perennials, 50–170 cm. Stems usually several, erect, unbranched or sparingly branched distally, villous with septate hairs, thinly arachnoid-tomentose, fistulose proximal to heads. Leaves short-villous and thinly arachnoid, ± glabrate, resin-gland-dotted; basal and proximal cauline petiolate, blades oblanceolate to narrowly ovate, 10–30 cm, margins entire or shallowly dentate; cauline sessile, shortly decurrent, not much smaller except those crowded proximal to heads, blades lanceolate to ovate, 5–10 cm, entire, often ± undulate, apices acute. Heads disciform or weakly radiant, borne singly, sessile, closely subtended by clusters of reduced leaves. Involucres ovoid to hemispheric, 25–35 mm. Phyllaries: bodies pale green or stramineous, ovate or broadly lanceolate, glabrous, appendages erect to spreading, brown, scarious, abruptly expanded, 1–2 cm wide, ± covering phyllary bodies, lacerate fringed, sometimes tipped by weak spines 1–2 mm, glabrous. Florets many. corollas yellow; corollas of sterile florets slightly expanded, ca. 4 mm; corollas of disc florets ca. 3.5 mm. Cypselae 7–8 mm; pappi of many setiform scales ("flattened bristles"), 5–8 mm. 2n = 18 (Russia).
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) 0.1 - 0.5
Mature height (meter) 1.0 - 1.5
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

Light 5-9
Soil humidity 3-6
Soil texture 3-4
Soil acidity 3-8
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 3-7

Usage

Uses -
Edible -
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by cuttings, divisions or seedlings.
Mode cuttings divisions seedlings
Germination duration (days) 7 - 14
Germination temperacture (C°) 18 - 21
Germination luminosity dark
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -40
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Leaf

Centaurea macrocephala leaf picture by Ryszard Morawiecki (cc-by-sa)
Centaurea macrocephala leaf picture by fred fortin (cc-by-sa)
Centaurea macrocephala leaf picture by Eylisia (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Centaurea macrocephala flower picture by prof matt (cc-by-sa)
Centaurea macrocephala flower picture by John Harding (cc-by-sa)
Centaurea macrocephala flower picture by Eylisia (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Centaurea macrocephala world distribution map, present in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Canada, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Georgia, Poland, and United States of America

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:190940-1
WFO ID wfo-0000114471
COL ID S6WZ
BDTFX ID 85691
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Phaeopappus macrocephalus Grossheimia macrocephala Centaurea macrocephala