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National Invasive Species Information Center
U.S. Department of Agriculture
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  4. Purple Star Thistle

Purple Star Thistle

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 star thistle

Purple starthistle, flower

Credit

Photo by Malcolm Storey; BioImages, Virtual Field-Guide (UK)

Source
Invasive.org.

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