Asteraceae
Centaurea

Centaurea melitensis L.

First published in Sp. Pl.: 917 (1753)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Macaronesia, Medit. It is an annual and grows primarily in the subtropical biome.

Descriptions

Compositae, G. V. Pope. Flora Zambesiaca 6:1. 1992

Morphology General Habit
An erect annual herb up to c. 1 m. tall.
Morphology Stem
Stems slender, stiffly branched, angular, narrowly winged, scabridulous.
Morphology Leaves
Cauline leaves sessile, up to c. 4 x 0.5 cm., oblong-lanceolate, entire, sometimes sinuate or dentate, decurrenton the stem as narrow wings, hispid-pubescent or young growth ± sericeous-araneose at first. Basal leaves up to c. 10 cm. long, narrowly obovate to lyrate-pinnatilobed; lobes few, remote, narrow, entire or dentate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Capitulum
Capitula solitary and terminal on short lateral branches; involucres c. 12 mm. long, urceolate, araneose.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Phyllaries
Phyllaries imbricate, increasing in length towards the inside, coriaceous, glabrous, appendaged; appendages of outer phyllaries brownish or purple, each with a deflexed apical spine 5–7 mm. long and 2–3 pairs of pinnately arranged short lateral spines; appendages of innermost phyllaries with the terminal spine reduced and the lateral spines absent, often expanded and chartaceous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Receptacle
Receptacle densely setose; the setae c. 7 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
Florets yellow, glandular otherwise glabrous; marginal florets neuter; disk-florets hermaphrodite, 8–12 mm. long, narrowly infundibuliform, limb 4.5–5.5 mm. long, lobes c. 1.5 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Achenes pale brownish-purple, c. 3 mm. long, oblong, somewhat laterally compressed, sparsely finely puberulent, attachment-scar lateral and oblique-concave; pappus many-seriate of persistent unequal paleaceous setae up to c. 3 mm. long.
[FZ]

Compositae, H. Beentje, C. Jeffrey & D.J.N. Hind. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2005

Morphology General Habit
Erect herb to 1 m high; stems branched, narrowly winged.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves sessile, elliptic, 4–15 cm long, 0.3–1 cm wide, margins entire or sometimes pinnatilobed in lowermost leaves, hispid-pubescent.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Capitulum
Capitula solitary and terminal on short lateral branches; involucre 10–17 mm long; phyllaries ovate, 12 mm long, with spiny terminal appendages; receptacle with setae to 7 mm long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
Corolla yellow, the marginal florets neuter; inner florets 8–12 mm long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Achenes pale brown, 2.5–3 mm long, glabrous or puberulous; pappus of unequal setae, the inner to 3 mm long, the outer narrow and scale-like, 0.5–1.5 mm long.
Habitat
Wheat- or maize-fields, pastures, roadsides; 1800–2200 m
Distribution
K3 K4 a native of the W Mediterranean, but now a widespread weed
[FTEA]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images