Centaurea stoebe
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Photos courtesy Renee Brecht |
Britton & Brown |
| Botanical name: | Centaurea stoebe |
| Common name: | spotted knapweed |
| Group: | dicot |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Growth type: | forb/herb |
| Duration: | biennial; perennial |
| Origin: | introduced; invasive |
| Plant height: | 12 - 60" |
| Foliage: | heavily dissected, pinnately compound |
| Flower: | pinkish purple, solitary; involucral bracts without widened tip |
| Flowering time: | late June to October |
| Habitat: | weed of dry disburbed ground of fields, roadsides |
| Range in New Jersey: | statwide and increasing |
| Heritage ranking, if any: | n/a |
| Distribution: |  |
| Misc. | Introduced in the 1890s as seeds mixed with alfalfa. Dispersed by seed,
animals, birds, and rodents. There are no known wildlife benefits and is
considered an invasive weed.
Four species of Centaurea grow in NJ, all invasive, with this being the most common. NJ's Invasive Species Report, pdf |