Rough star-thistle
Centaurea aspera
Family · Asteraceae · Harmless
The lilac-pink knapweed of verges and sandy ground that flowers all summer and takes trampling, drought and salt. It is one of the few showy flowers you find on a roadside in August.
Roadsides and waste ground · Dunes and sand · Fields and pasture · Scrubland
Also known asrough centaury
How to tell it
Lilac-pink heads with larger, ray-like marginal florets. The head's bracts end in short spines grouped in a fan of three to five, which is the detail that identifies it. A rough plant to the touch.
What it is confused with
No dangerous lookalikes known in the Iberian Peninsula.
What it is for
A bitter infusion of traditional use in the Peninsula. No food use.
With documented traditional uses. Not a therapeutic indication and not a dose.
Where it occurs
Each square is an area with recorded observations of this plant. The lighter background is the set of areas where any of the entries has been observed, and serves as a reference. Note what this is not: it is not where the plant lives, it is where people record it, so trails and towns always look fuller than the mountains. Data from GBIF.
Sources
Community
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