Centaurea scabiosa L.

Greater knapweed (en), Centaurée scabieuse (fr), Centaurée Scabieuse (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Asterales > Asteraceae > Centaurea

Characteristics

Perennial. Stems erect, ribbed, branched, 40-70-(150) cm tall, with sparse multicellular and cobwebby hairs. Lvs not decurrent on stems, with scabrid hairs; lower lvs deeply 1-(2)-pinnatifid, 12-20-(30) × 3-8-(10) cm, with oblong, obtuse to subacute lateral lobes; upper lvs pinnatifid, becoming sessile, smaller. Capitula not clustered. Involucre globose, (7)-15-20 mm diam.; outer and middle bracts ovate to elliptic, not veined or obscurely 3-7-veined, glabrescent or puberulent or with cobwebby hairs; appendages erect to recurved, pectinate-fimbriate, not covering bracts, membranous, not narrowed at junction with bract, decurrent on upper 1/2of bract; fimbriae 8-14 on each side, brown, 2-3 mm long. Florets purple, the outer radiate. Corolla eglandular. Achenes 4-5.5 mm long, puberulent; pappus 4-5 mm long.
More
Taprooted perennial 3–15 dm, the caudex clothed with the long, chaffy-fibrous, persistent lf-bases of former years; herbage hirsute or subglabrous, and slightly arachnoid when young; lvs deeply pinnatifid, or the basal ones sometimes merely toothed; heads few or solitary, naked pedunculate, hemispheric or ovoid; invol 16–25 mm, its bracts with a conspicuous, blackish, scarious, pectinate-fringed tip; fls generally purple, the marginal ones usually enlarged; pappus 3–6 mm; 2n=20, 30, 40. Fields and waste places; native of Europe, escaped from cult. and found here and there in the n. part of our range. June–Sept.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination entomogamy
Spread anemochory
Mature width (meter) 0.55 - 0.75
Mature height (meter) 0.9 - 1.0
Root system fibrous-root rhizome tap-root
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

Pastures, field edges and roadsides, usually on chalk.
Light 5-9
Soil humidity 2-7
Soil texture 2-5
Soil acidity 4-9
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 4-7

Usage

Uses environmental use medicinal
Edible -
Therapeutic use Cancer (unspecified), Tonic (unspecified), Vulnerary (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by cuttings or seedlings.
Mode cuttings seedlings
Germination duration (days) 7 - 14
Germination temperacture (C°) 15 - 21
Germination luminosity dark
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -35
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -