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Photographer: Merel R. Black
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Family Asteraceae
Centaurea biebersteinii DC.
spotted knapweed
Centaurea: ancient Greek plant-name, poetically associated with Chiron, the Centaur, but without wholly satisfactory explanation
biebersteinii: for Baron Friedrich August Marschall von Bieberstein, 19th century German explorer in southern Russia
Invasive - Eradicate!
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| Status: | Introduced - naturalized; ecologically invasive |
| Plant: | erect, biennial/perennial, 1'-4' tall forb |
| Flower: | head 1" wide with pink to purple disk flowers, starry, loosely thistle-like, bracts (phyllaries) fringed with black "eyelashes"; inflorescence a solitary head at the ends of the many branches; blooms June-Oct. |
| Leaf: | pinnately-divided with narrow lobes |
| Habitat: | dry; disturbed sites; in limy soil |
| Notes: | Plants produces a chemical killing nearby plants. To eradicate- wear gloves to pull or dig; hot burns; herbicide specific to broadleaf or composite weeds |
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