The feathered bracts on the involucres finally helped me identify these pretty flowers as knapweed, genus Centaurea. I haven't been able to do any better than that yet. Some Centaurea species are invasive exotics while others are North American natives. These may be some escaped horticultural variety. Whatever they are, they are doing very well in a clearing near our house, and I think they are lovely.
- Connecticut Botanical Society's Knapweed selection
- USDA Plants Database entry for the genus Centaurea
2 comments:
I've never encountered a Centaurea in Missouri. The aliens are rare and our only native species grows in just a few SW MO counties. I remember seeing examples of genus the years ago when I lived in Vermont. Seeing your photos makes me wish we had some here!
Found your blog by accident today while searching for yellow centauria...no time to read it all now but will stop back when I can.
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