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Photographer: Emmet J. Judziewicz
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Family Asteraceae
Centaurea jacea L.
brown knapweed, brown-ray knapweed
Centaurea: ancient Greek plant-name, poetically associated with Chiron, the Centaur, but without wholly satisfactory explanation
jacea: old generic name
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| Status: | Introduced - naturalized |
| Plant: | erect, perennial, 8"-32" tall forb |
| Flower: | head 1"-1 1/4" wide with purple disk flowers, loosely thistle-like, bracts (phyllaries) fringed with brownish "eyelashes"; inflorescence a solitary head at the ends of the branches; blooms June-Sept. |
| Leaf: | usually either undivided or toothed; lower more than 1/3" wide; larger ones possibly with a few lobes |
| Habitat: | fields, roadsides, disturbed areas |
| (Glossary) |
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