Centaurea montana, L.

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 : 297

210. C. montana L. , Sp. Pl. 911 (1753).

Perennial with creeping rhizome. Stems up to 80 cm, erect, rarely ascending, simple, rarely sparingly branched above, broadly winged. Leaves soft, patent, ovate to oblong or broadly lanceolate, entire or rarely the lower remotely dentate to lobed, floccose-tomentose beneath, glabrescent, the lower shortly petiolate. Involucre 10-15 mm in diameter, ovoid-cylindrical; appendages decurrent near base, black to dark brown; fimbriae as long as the width of the margin, dark brown. Inner florets violet; outer blue. Achenes 5-6 mm; pappus c. 1-5 mm. 2л = 44. Open woods and meadows', usually calcicole. • Mountains of Europe, from the Ardennes and the Carpathians to the Pyrenees, C. Italy and C. Jugoslavia. Au Be Cz Ga Ge He Hs It Ju Po [Fe]. Widely cultivated for ornament.