OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Centaurea benedicta   FAMILY Asteraceae__   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cnicus benedictus   FAMILY Asteraceae__

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-24-004:

Centaurea benedicta   FAMILY Asteraceae__

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Cnicus benedictus

 

COMMON NAME:
Blessed Thistle


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Centaurea benedicta, Blessed Thistle

USDA Forest Service / A Guide to Medicinal Plants of Appalachia. 1969    mpa_page_099

        

image of Centaurea benedicta, Blessed Thistle

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_cnbe_001_lvd

        

image of Centaurea benedicta, Blessed Thistle

Joseph M. DiTomaso, University of California - Davis, Bugwood.org    bug_5374323

Month Unknown        

Heads sessile, closely subtended & partially concealed by large foliar bracts, per Weakley's Flora.

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Centaurea benedicta   FAMILY Asteraceae__

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cnicus benedictus   FAMILY Asteraceae__

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-24-004:
Centaurea benedicta   FAMILY Asteraceae__

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Cnicus benedictus

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

2677

Forb
Winter annual

Habitat: Fields, roadsides, disturbed areas, per Weakley's Flora

Non-native: Mediterranean Europe

Uncommon in Coastal Plain of GA-NC-SC, uncommon in SC Piedmont, rare elsewhere

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.


INVASIVE

This plant is causing problems in natural areas outside its native range, according to authorities such as:

 

IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Leaf margins spiny

LEAVES:
Simple
Mostly alternate

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Disc: Yellow
Rays: Absent
Inferior ovary
Bisexual

FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Achene

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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