Centaurea melitensis

Tocalote; maltese star-thistle, Tocalote

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Tocalote is a naturalized annual found in California's Central Valley, Foothills, and Desert regions in disturbed fields and open woodlands at elevations below 2,200 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces yellow flowers in heads with distinctive purple-tipped, spine-fringed phyllaries. Growing 1 to 10 decimeters tall with a single stem that becomes branched and winged, it has a gray-hairy appearance with resin-dotted foliage. Its lower leaves range from entire to lobed and can be up to 15 centimeters long, while upper leaves are entire or toothed and long-decurrent along the stem. The plant's seed heads feature spiny, straw-colored involucres with central spines 5 to 10 millimeters long, creating a distinctive star-thistle appearance.

Habitat: Disturbed fields, open woodland

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 2200 m

Bioregions: CA-FP, D (uncommon)

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.