Seasonal Wild Flowers

Greater Knapweed

Centaurea scabiosa

Asteraceae

June to September

It is found throughout the country.

See the BSBI distribution map for Greater Knapweed

It is found in grassland and scrub, on sea-cliffs and waste

ground, around woods and beside paths, roads and

railways.

Greater Knapweed is a tufted, perennial, native herb,

growing up to 120cm.

The purple-pink flowerheads are up to 5cm across, the

sterile outer florets acting as rays.

The involucre is ovoid-globose.

The bracts have blackish-brown, horseshoe-shaped

with turned-down appendages.

The lanceolate leaves are pinnately divided.

Greater Knapweed, Abbotsbury, Dorset

Rayed flower

Inner florets

Outer rays

Involucre - bracts

Lower leaves

Pinnatifid leaves

Pollination by bees