Centaurea granatensis, Boiss. ex DC.

Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A., 1976, Flora Europaea. Volume 4. Plantaginaceae to Compositae (and Rubiaceae), Cambridge University Press : 264

17. C. granatensis Boiss. ex DC. , Prodr. 7: 303 (1838).

Stems 5-30 cm, simple. Leaves white-lanate; basal undivided, the petiole white-lanate at base; lower cauline sublyrate-pinnatisect; segments at least 3 mm wide, oblong; appendages sometimes covering the broadly ovate bracts, with an erecto-patent or recurved apical spine 3-6 mm, spinose below. Florets golden yellow, the outer somewhat longer than the inner. Achenes 3-5 mm, pale brown; pappus twice as long as achene. Calcareous mountain rocks. 9 S. & S.E. Spain. Hs.

Very variable in length of stem and division of the leaves.

C. omphalotricha Cosson & Durieu ex Batt. in Batt. & Trabut, Fl. Algér. Dicot. 497 (1889), from Algeria and Tunisia, has been recorded from S.E. Spain, but only as a casual; it is like 17 but the stem is branched from the base, the involucre is c. 15 mm in diameter and the appendages have a yellow apical spine.