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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
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The section below contains highly relevant resources for this species, organized by source.
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Citations
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.