Species name :

Centaurea calcitrapa L.
Published in Sp. Pl. 917 (1753)

Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.)

No Main Synonyms

Full list of synonyms : [Euro+Med] [PlantList] [IPNI] [POWO] [Catalogue of Life ]

Plant Family :

Asteraceae Bercht. & J.Presl (=Compositae) (The Daisy or Sunflower Family)
125 species from the Asteraceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands.

English name(s) :

Red Star-Thistle, Purple Star-Thistle

Maltese name(s) :

Maltese name not known

Status for Malta :

Species that was introduced in Malta after year 1492 and spreads to form established, non-invasive populations. It may become become invasive if it widespreads rapidly.

Frequency :

Very Common     Common     Frequent     Scarce     Rare     Very Rare     Extinct

Growth form :

Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: HEMICRYPTOPHYTE (prostate plants with flowers close to the ground)
Germination [info]: Dicotyledon

Legal Protection [link]:

Not Protected by Law (LN200/2011 or LN311/2006)

Red List (1989) :

Not listed in the Red Data Book of the Maltese Islands

Flowering Time :

May-Jul

Colour of Flowers:

Violet

Habitat in Europe:

Waste places and disturbed ground. S. & S.C. Europe

Preferred habitat in Malta:

Data will be available in the next update of this website.

Botanical Description:

Stems 20-100 cm, ascending to erect, divaricately branched from the base. Young leaves grey-lanate, becoming greenish and crispate-pubescent, glandular; lower pinnatifid, with lanceolate, acute, remotely serrate lobes, withered at anthesis; upper pinnatifid, with linear-lanceolate segments, the uppermost lanceolate or somewhat hastate. Capitula sessile, surrounded by upper leaves. Involucre 6-8 mm in diameter, ovoid-cylindrical; bracts coriaceous, ovate, indistinctly veined, with scarious margin; appendages with slender, patent apical spine 10-18 mm, strongly thickened at base, and usually 1-3 basal spines 3-5 mm. Florets pale purple, glandular, equal. Achenes c. 3 mm; pappus absent.

Chromosome number:

2n=20

Distributional range:

S. & S.C. Europe naturalized elsewhere in W. & C. Europe

Distributional map in Europe
and the Mediterranean region (2018):

Occurrences in Europe.
(from Flora Europaea pre year 1993):

Albania, the Balaeric Islands, Bulgaria, Corse, Crete, Czeck Republic and Slovakia, France (incl. Monaco and Channel Islands but excluding Corse), Greece, Switzerland, Spain (incl. Andorra but excl. the Balaerics), Hungary, Italy (excl. Sicily and Sardignia), ex-Jugoslavia, Portugal, Romania, Russia and former USSR, Sardinia, Sicily and/or Malta, Introduced in  Austria and Liechtenstein, Belgium, Britain (excl. Northern Ireland and Channel islands), Germany, the Netherlands

Occurrences in Europe and the Mediterranean region.
(Euro+Med Checklist, 2017) - Country codes

AE(G) Ag Al dBe BH Bl(I M N) Bu dCa(C F G L T) ?Ca(H) Cg Co Cr Ct Cy Eg Ga(F) Gr He Hs(G S) Hu It Jo Le Lu Ma dMd(M) Mk Rm Sa Si(M S) Sl Sr Sy Tn Tu(A E) Uk(K) [Au aBe(L) nBr aCs aGa(C) nGe aHb(E) nHo aLa aNo aPo aSk]

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