Centaurea calcitrapa L. (ITIS)
Purple star thistle, red star thistle, common star thistle
Mediterranean Region (Pitcairn et al. 2002)
First discovered in the late 1800s (Pitcairn et al. 2002)
Accidental (Pitcairn et al. 2002)
Crowds out desirable forage species on rangelands (Pitcairn et al. 2002)
![Purple star thistle](/sites/default/files/styles/extra_large/public/media/image/purple-star-thistle-1357019.jpg?itok=wLWdE_6u)
Purple starthistle, flower
Photo by Malcolm Storey; BioImages, Virtual Field-Guide (UK)
Find more images
Distribution / Maps / Survey Status
Videos
All Resources
Selected Resources
The section below contains highly relevant resources for this species, organized by source.
Council or Task Force
Partnership
Federal Government
State and Local Government
Professional
Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Centaurea calcitrapa. [Accessed Sep 21, 2023].
Pitcairn, M.J., J.A. Young, C.D. Clements, and J. Balciunas. 2002. Purple starthistle (Centaurea calcitrapa) seed germination. Weed Technology 16(2):452-456.