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Scientific Name
Centaurea calcitrapa L. (ITIS)
Common Name
Purple star thistle, red star thistle, common star thistle
Native To
Mediterranean Region (Pitcairn et al. 2002)
Date of U.S. Introduction
First discovered in the late 1800s (Pitcairn et al. 2002)
Means of Introduction
Accidental (Pitcairn et al. 2002)
Impact
Crowds out desirable forage species on rangelands (Pitcairn et al. 2002)
Purple starthistle, flower
Credit
Photo by Malcolm Storey; BioImages, Virtual Field-Guide (UK)
Source
Find more images
Distribution / Maps / Survey Status
Videos
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
Citations
Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Centaurea calcitrapa. [Accessed Sep 10, 2014].
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.