Tyrol or Short-Fringed Knapweed, Centaurea nigrescens
Asteraceae or Sunflower Family
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Medium plant, 1 to 3 feet tall. Upper leaves (left below) long and narrow, untoothed; lower leaves (right below) wider, with a few teeth or small lobes. Pink to rose flowers in thistle-like heads,the outermost with very long petals, forming rays around the head. Blooms in summer.
Fruits downy, contained in brown cups which persist into the winter.
Alien weed, mostly of roadsides and waste places. Spreading in our area and recently found in Wildwood. Spotted knapweed (C. maculosa) has leaves finely divided into linear segments and flowers usually more purplish. Could be confused with common burdock, which has somewhat similar flowerheads; however, the flowerheads of burdock are more compact and the leaves are large and coarse. |
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