Centaurea eriophora L.

Adult plant

Centaurea eriophora is an annual plant, grayish-green, densely covered with short grayish-white hairs, reaching 50 cm high. Stems erect, branched in the upper part, ribbed, narrowly winged by the long decurrence of the stem leaves. Simple leaves alternate, pennatipartite or pennate, sessile, extending along the stem in a leafy wing, the lower ones lyrate with more or less wavy margin, the upper ones linear, entire or toothed. Inflorescence in solitary capitula at the top of the branches, subglobose, sessile and surrounded by 1-3 bracteate terminal leaves, composed of florets that are all tubular, lemon-yellow in colour. Involucre 17-23 x 15-22 mm; involucre bracts arranged in several series and the median bracts ending in a long apical spine 11-15 mm long, very vulnate, not extended at the base into a foliaceous wing on the stem, straw-coloured or ferruginous, bearing 3-4 pairs of lateral spines up to 5 mm long. They are concealed (except for the tips of the spikes) by a web of fine, soft white hairs intertwined like a dense spider's web. Achenes 4-5 mm long, compressed, obovoid, surmounted by a persistent pappus made up of two rows of uneven, scaly bristles.

Origin

Centaurea eriophora is native of the region Canaro-Ibero-Maghrebine.

Worldwide distribution

Species introduced in Great Britain, Germany and South Australia.

Algeria: Plant rather rare in the Tell except for Constantinois, and in the High Plateaux.

https://www.gbif.org/species/3127830