UW Burke Herbarium species comparison

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Centaurea solstitialis

Centaurea montana

yellow star-thistle

mountain bluet, mountain cornflower, montane starthistle
Habit Annual or biennial, 2-8 dm. tall, thinly white-woolly throughout, the stem winged. Pubescent perennial from creeping rhizomes, the stems 30-60 cm. tall.
Leaves

Basal leaves lyrate and pinnatifid, up to 20 cm. long and 5 cm. wide;

cauline leaves smaller, becoming linear and entire upward.

Leaves alternate, entire, and lanceolate.
Flowers

Heads several, broader toward the base;

involucre 10-15 mm. high, its middle and outer bracts spine-tipped, the larger spines 11-22 mm. long;

flowers yellow;

pappus of the outer flowers wanting, that of the others 3-5 mm. long;

receptacle densely bristly.

Heads discoid, terminal and solitary on the stem;

flowers blue, the long corolla tube deeply five-lobed;

involucre bracts imbricate, with bristly margins.
Fruits

Achene.

Centaurea solstitialis

Centaurea montana
Flowering time July-September May-August
Habitat Roadsides, fields, ditches, meadows, grassy slopes, wastelots, and other disturbed, open areas at low to middle elevations. Roadsides, fields, ditches, shores, wastelots, and other disturbed, open areas.
Distribution
Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest and in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; Washington to California, east across most of North America to the Atlantic Coast.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Occurring chiefly west of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to Oregon, east to Montana, Idaho, and Utah, also from Great Lakes region to northeastern North America.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Origin Introduced from Europe Introduced from Europe
Conservation status Not of concern Not of concern
Sibling taxa
C. benedicta, C. calcitrapa, C. cyanus, C. diffusa, C. ×gerstlaueri, C. iberica, C. jacea, C. macrocephala, C. melitensis, C. montana, C. nigra, C. nigrescens, C. stoebe, C. trichocephala, C. ×varnensis
C. benedicta, C. calcitrapa, C. cyanus, C. diffusa, C. ×gerstlaueri, C. iberica, C. jacea, C. macrocephala, C. melitensis, C. nigra, C. nigrescens, C. solstitialis, C. stoebe, C. trichocephala, C. ×varnensis
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the University of Washington's Burke Herbarium.



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