Centaurea scabiosa is a taller plant than centaurea nigra (common knapweed); it has leaves which are lobed rather than unlobed, and bracts that are brown only along the upper margin, rather than (nearly) all over.
Common name:
Greater knapweed
Family:
Scientific name:
Centaurea scabiosa
Main flower color:
Range:
Most of England and Wales, especially in the south and central regions
Height:
Between 30 cm and 80 cm
Habitat:
Grassland, roadsides, hedgerows, mostly on calcareous soils
Flowers:
Flowerheads are up to 6 cm in diameter, formed of many narrow, pink to purple (occasionally white) florets; those at the edge are spreading, wider and elongated. The overlapping, triangular bracts around the involucre are green at the base and centre, and brown at the top, in a horseshoe-shaped arc, and are fringed with bristly spines. Flowerheads are solitary
Leaves:
Oblong, deeply pinnately lobed, with a few teeth, or lobes, along the edges
Season:
June to September
Rarity:
★★★★★
