Centaurea virgata subsp. squarrosa

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Squarrose knapweed is a naturalized perennial herb found in the Klamath Ranges, northern California Ranges, northern Sierra Nevada, and Modoc Plateau in disturbed places at elevations of 900 to 1,400 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces pink or pale purple flowers in disciform heads with pale green to straw-colored involucres fringed with delicate spines. Growing with much-branched stems 20 to 50 centimeters tall that emerge from a single base, it develops a loosely tomentose and scabrous appearance. Its lower leaves are deeply 1 to 2 times lobed and up to 15 centimeters long, often absent by flowering time, while upper leaves tend to be entire or shallowly lobed. The fruit develops as a light brown achene approximately 3 millimeters long, topped with short white pappus bristles.

Habitat: Disturbed places

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: 900-1400 m

Bioregions: KR, CaR, n SNH, MP

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